Tennessee’s rate of children without health insurance is at its lowest since 2018 – a year that has seen rates of uninsured children are rising due in part to a decline in TennCare enrollment – while the rate of all Tennessians without health insurance is at its lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the pandemic, an unprecedented number of people have enrolled in Medicaid, which in Tennessee is called TennCare, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A lower unemployment rate has also contributed to an increase in the number of residents with health insurance coverage.
A new report from the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee found that by 2022, the number of uninsured Tennesseans has fallen from 8.3% to 7.5% of the population, which is about 42,000 inhabitants.
The surge in Medicaid enrollment is largely attributed to a provision in the Family First Coronavirus Response Act requiring state Medicaid agencies to refrain from de-enrolling people until the federal public health emergency remains in place. In turn, the federal government has increased its contribution to the states for the duration of the emergency.
But the early end of that emergency in April worries advocates that enrollees could unexpectedly find themselves without coverage as states work to redetermine Medicaid eligibility.
Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, said in a phone interview that staffers are working to recruit volunteers across the state to help people through the redetermination process and encourage TennCare enrollees. to prepare.
“We’re working really hard to get the word out across the state for church groups or book clubs or anyone who’s looking to help people through this process,” Johnson said. “I am particularly concerned, given the massive increase in mental health problems among adolescents, if children lose their cover and find out that they lost their coverage at the pharmacy, they can lose their medication and it will be really dangerous.”
In the past, Johnson has said a 95-page packet of paper must be filled out for each TennCare enrollee, but at this time it’s unclear what people will need to do to prove their eligibility.
“If we don’t have families knowing this is happening and people are working to make it less overwhelming, we’re really concerned,” Johnson said, noting that enrollees need to be proactive to ensure TennCare has their good. address before April.
TennCare is the state and federally funded health insurance program that covers more than $1.7 million for low-income Tennesseans, primarily women, children, and people with disabilities.
For enrollees who are making too much money now to qualify, Johnson said there are options in the market from the Affordable Care Act and other health insurers.
A recent change to the ACA now considers dependents of those with employer-sponsored health insurance to be eligible for grants on ACA plans if the family premium under employer protection is greater than 9.5% of family income.
“There will definitely be people who are no longer eligible,” Johnson said, “but the important thing is that they find their way to coverage.”
Contact Elizabeth Fite at [email protected] Where 423-757-6673. Follow her on Twitter @ecfite.