TennCare renewal packets are hitting mailboxes for the first time in nearly three years. The state insurance provider kicked off its 12-month unwinding process on April 1. 

Up first are people who were slated for renewal in April 2020, and members have 40 days to respond. If TennCare requests additional documentation, the person will have 20 days to complete that request. Since January 2020, under the federal COVID-19 public health emergency, those on TennCare have not been required to renew their coverage. The first termination letters for those who did not respond at all to TennCare’s correspondence will be mailed May 22 with coverage to cease June 12. 

TennCare does allow two stopgaps for members, however. Members can be re-enrolled if they return the packet within 90 days of termination for failure to engage in the process if they are still eligible for TennCare. In addition, if a person is determined no longer eligible for TennCare, their information is automatically sent to the Federal Marketplace, TennCare spokesperson Amy Lawrence told the Post. 

Thanks to ex-parte waivers, some members won’t have to complete the renewal process. The latest waiver the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted to Tennessee allows those reported under 100 percent federal poverty level as of March 2019 to be automatically renewed if TennCare cannot find recent income data for them.  

In addition, TennCare will renew certain individuals’ eligibility based on SNAP enrollment or temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) eligibility. 

Local organizations including Tennessee Justice Center and Family and Children's Services have begun assisting clients with their renewal packets. Family and Children's Services encourages people to still complete the application even if they think they are no longer eligible. They can also check in to find out when their renewal date is. Health care navigator Emilee Fauchet is encouraged by the addition of ex parte renewal, pre-populated renewal packets and simpler questions. 

“We’ll see how it goes when that first batch of terminations actually hit,” Fauchet said. 

Michele Johnson, executive director of health advocacy organization Tennesssee Justice Center encourages people to appeal, whether it be because they didn’t receive a notice, if they were unenrolled without reason, or if the reasoning for their disenrollment is not true. She said she is especially worried about those receiving mental health treatment, and those with disabilities having appropriate accommodations to complete the packet.  

“This is super vital for folks who might need who might be on medicine, and any sort of interruption to that medicine could be disastrous,” Johnson said.  “Any option that the state has taken to make it simpler will make a difference. They have the option to even broaden the number of people that they do ex-parte reviews on.”

Where typically people would be cycled off each year due to ineligibility, the number of those enrolled in TennCare has grown to more than 1.7 million from a typical 1.4 million in the last three years. As TennCare seeks to reduce its rolls down to pre-pandemic levels, Johnson expressed concern around what that means for more than 300,000 Tennesseans.  

“TennCare has a long history of seeming to think it's a win if they can lessen the number of people on the program as opposed to a win if they have the number of people on the program reflects the need of Tennesseans,” she said.