TennCare Director Mark Reynolds Expected To Resign, Memphis Commercial Appeal Reports

Mark Reynolds, the director of TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program, is expected to resign June 31, just as legislators begin debate on reforming the program, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Reynolds, a "nationally recognized Medicaid administrator" who was recruited from Massachusetts to run TennCare two years ago, is credited with "play[ing] a key role" in negotiating and implementing the program's eligibility re-verification process, which had been "snarled in federal court" for years. State Rep. Robert Rochelle (D) said of Reynolds, "His knowledge has been invaluable in the improvement of TennCare since he's been there, and it's been a marked improvement." Gov. Don Sundquist's (R) office on June 12 is expected to announce that Manny Martins, an assistant commissioner in the state Department of Commerce and Insurance who regulates TennCare HMOs, will take over as director of the Medicaid program. Martins was TennCare's "original architect" and formerly served as the state's Medicaid director (Wade, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 6/12). Reynolds' resignation comes after the federal government on May 31 approved the state's waiver application to restructure TennCare eligibility and benefits. The waiver, which takes effect July 1, allows the state to create TennCare Medicaid for Medicaid-eligible individuals and TennCare Standard for adults with no access to group insurance and annual incomes below the poverty level, or $8,860 for an individual; children in families with annual incomes below 200% of the poverty level, $36,200 for a family of four, and no access to group insurance; and medically eligible people with illnesses that make them uninsurable. TennCare Medicaid will give beneficiaries coverage similar to what is currently offered through TennCare, while TennCare Standard will offer scaled-back benefits similar to those available through commercial managed care programs. The waiver also allows for the creation of TennCare Assist, which would provide low-income workers assistance in purchasing private health insurance (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/3).