Sept. 24, 2007
(615) 532-1921 OFFICE
(615) 268-1337 MOBILE
During its regular meeting on Sept. 20, the AccessTN board voted to make these changes for 2008:
• Increase the program’s annual maximum benefit, the total amount the program will pay for medical services, to $200,000;
• Change the program’s pre-existing exclusion waiting period to allow AccessTN to pay 50 percent of an enrollee’s medical claims for six months, before the full benefit begins;
• Raise the ceiling to qualify for premium assistance to 350 percent of the federal poverty line, about $72,275 annually for a family of four, and add a 20 percent premium assistance level;
• Increase the amount premium assistance will pay to 90 percent of AccessTN’s monthly premium for enrollees at 100 percent of federal poverty, $10,210 annually for an individual; and,
• Extend the deadline to join AccessTN to Dec. 1, 2007, for TennCare disenrollees who have been on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act plans.
“We are putting AccessTN within the reach of more Tennesseans who have been unable to get health insurance because they have acute or chronic medical conditions,” said Finance & Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz. “We are opening the program to more people while making sure AccessTN is fiscally sound.”
The changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2008, and expand on decisions the AccessTN board made at its Aug. 16 meeting. At that meeting, the board voted to accept applications from individuals who will exhaust COBRA benefits and to lower the program’s ‘go bare’ provision to three months.
AccessTN’s ‘go bare’ requirement is the period of time an individual must be without health insurance coverage before joining the program.
AccessTN is one of Governor Phil Bredesen’s Cover Tennesee health insurance programs for uninsured individuals in Tennessee, providing comprehensive health insurance for adults with one of 55 specified medical conditions, or who are unable to get insurance in the commercial market because of their health status.
Other Cover Tennessee programs include: CoverTN, affordable and portable health insurance for uninsured small businesses; CoverKids, comprehensive health insurance for uninsured children; and CoverRx, pharmacy assistance for individuals without prescription drug coverage.
More information on Cover Tennessee is available at www.CoverTN.gov or by calling 1-866-COVERTN.
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