In anticipation of the new federal high-risk insurance plan approved under health care reform, Tennessee’s own state-run high-risk pool will stop accepting new members this month.
The AccessTN board of directors voted last week to close the health insurance plan to new members starting Oct. 15, according to a news release.
The program’s 4,000 current members won’t be affected, and those who already have applied for coverage still will be able to enroll if approved.
Gov. Phil Bredesen created AccessTN in 2007 as part of the Cover Tennessee health initiative to provide a coverage option for uninsurable Tennesseans with pre-existing conditions.
The new federal plan has allocated $97 million for those uninsurable Tennesseans.