NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge is hearing arguments in a class-action lawsuit that claims delays in processing TennCare applications have left thousands of low-income Tennesseans without timely access to medical care.
TennCare applicants testified in court in Nashville on Tuesday in a lawsuit that was originally filed in 2014 after the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. At the time, the state's computer system was unable to handle a new method of determining TennCare eligibility.
Attorneys for the state say the problem is fixed and now less than 1 percent of applications are not resolved within the 45 or 90 days required by law, depending on the type of application.
Attorneys for TennCare applicants say the problem is ongoing and the court should order the state to respond to applications more quickly.