Nashville
After cutting 191,000 Medicaid beneficiaries from the state's rolls last year, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is proposing to enroll more “medically needy” residents in the program, The Tennesseean reported.
If approved by federal regulators, the plan would expand TennCare enrollment to several thousand needy adults with high medical bills and could begin as soon as February.
The state health care program currently has 91,000 people enrolled, and the goal is to expand it to 100,000, according to TennCare Director J.D. Hickey.
Also, about 25,000 people are being shifted to Medicare, leaving new slots open for enrollees, he continued.
Those who were cut from TennCare last year can reapply if they meet a list of requirements such as high medical bills and being a single parent or disabled, although critics say the rules would make it difficult for many to enroll.
Hickey estimated the expansion could cost the state an additional $20 million in fiscal 2006.
