tennessee health insurance Archives

128K Tennessee children’s health insurance plans were cut and many parents have no idea

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 Julie Campbell

Tennessee children’s health insurance - Child with parents

Thousands of kids were erased from the CoverKids and TennCare programs since 2017. About 128,000 children were purged from the CoverKids and TennCare Tennessee children’s health insurance plans over a period of two years. Unless they took their kids to the doctor’s office and were refused, parents had no idea it happened. TennCare and CoverKids are two government sponsored Tennessee children’s health insurance programs for low-income families. As over 100 thousand kids in the state were not covered by private insurance, the number of uninsured residents of Tennessee ballooned in…

Health insurance premiums set to grow in Tennessee

February 3, 2016February 2, 2016 Marc

BlueCross Blue Shield intends to raise rates for 2017 coverage BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is preparing to request for additional rate hikes in the coming months. The company is the largest health insurance provider in the state and is looking to raise premiums in an effort to overcome financial losses. The insurer has estimated that it will have lost $150 million by providing insurance policies through exchange marketplaces. Exchanges were designed to make coverage more accessible, something which they managed to accomplish quite well. Insurers are fighting financial losses by…

State seeks more information on growing health insurance premiums

January 14, 2016January 13, 2016 Logan B.

Senator calls for Tennessee Insurance Commissioner Julie McPeak to testify before legislative committee Tennessee Senator Mark Green has submitted a request to the state’s Insurance Commissioner, Julie McPeak, to testify before a legislative committee concerning increasing health insurance premiums. Premiums on coverage provided through the state’s insurance exchange, which is operated by the federal government, have grown in 2016, and this has become a concern for many consumers living in the state. Some lawmakers are eager to determine why premiums have been growing aggressively. State officials aim to find more…

Tennessee health insurance enrollments have broken records

December 17, 2015December 16, 2015 Julie Campbell

Many residents of the state are finding it easier and more convenient to enroll, regardless of their opinion of their plans. Residents of Tennessee have enrolled in the health insurance exchange in the state in record numbers, in order to comply with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act and in order to have done so by the first open enrollment deadline, which was on Tuesday. By December 5, there had already been 88,007 people in Tennessee who had signed up for health plans. Comparatively, by December 15, 2014 –…

Tennessee health insurance co-op faces complaints from consumers

December 4, 2015December 3, 2015 Marc

Tennessee consumers are having problems with the state’s health insurance co-op, Community Health Alliance Tennessee’s Community Health Alliance, a health insurance co-op operating in the state, has become the subject of complaints being issued to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Now, the state agency is looking to hear from more people that may have had problems with the co-op in an effort to determine how outstanding problems can be resolved. At the end of the year, the co-op is expected to shut down, which will leave some 27,000…

Insurance companies may soon have rates negotiated with doctors

November 12, 2015November 11, 2015 Julie Campbell

doctor health insurance companies healthcare workers

If a new bill passes in Tennessee, it will mean that health care providers will play a role in rates negotiations. A new bill is currently under consideration by the Tennessee state legislature, which would alter the way insurance companies currently calculate the rates that are charged through doctors’ offices. The Healthcare Providers Stability Act will be the first of its kind for any state in the country. The current issue that the bill would change is that at the moment, insurance companies have the ability to change the rates…

Tennessee children’s health insurance program will be federally funded

August 11, 2015August 8, 2015 Julie Campbell

Children’s Health Insurance Program kids

The state is about to save over $100 million over two years as the federal government picks up the tab. As the federal government takes over the majority of the bill for the children’s health care program in Tennessee, the state will now be able to save more than $100 million over a span of two years. The state has managed this by taking advantage of a provision of the Affordable Car Act that isn’t widely known. This windfall is certainly expected to be a helpful one, though temporary, as…