Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed budget includes funds to expand TennCare coverage to roughly 25,000 children and parents, a move celebrated by those who support Tennessee’s decision to forgo traditional Medicaid expansion in favor of a waiver that gives the state more flexibility.
TennCare is Tennessee’s Medicaid program that provides health care for about 1.7 million residents, mostly low-income children, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
Lee said expanding services is possible through savings from Tennessee’s Medicaid waiver agreement with the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which in 2021 granted TennCare leeway from some federal rules around managing the program.
“Despite enormous criticism from those who said we couldn’t or wouldn’t, we are going to do exactly what we said we would do when we pursued this shared savings waiver — expand services for the most vulnerable and provide those services to even more Tennesseans,” Lee said during his annual State of the State address Monday. “And now that day has come.”
As a result of shared savings through the program, Tennessee will receive more than $300 million in additional federal funds. Lee said he wants to direct that money toward making TennCare’s recent 12-month extension of postpartum coverage permanent, as well as adding other support services for new mothers, providing one year of continuous enrollment for children and expanding eligibility for parents and caretakers of children.