AccessTN Open Enrollment Begins
Feb 26, 2007
AccessTN is the high-risk health insurance pool in the state of Tennessee that provides medical insurance options for those residents of the state that are unable to secure personal health coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition.
The State of Tennessee announced earlier this week that it has begun its open enrollment period for AccessTN, the state’s new high risk health insurance plan. Initial enrollment will be limited to 6,000 enrollees, with 4,500 available positions being held for a period of 60 days for qualifying individuals who had heretofore been disenrolled from TennCare during recent cutbacks of the TennCare program.
The goal of AccessTN is to provide health insurance coverage to high risk individuals who have been denied access to health insurance coverage by private health insurance companies due to their high risk health status. AccessTN is not a state-sponsored health plan and will require individual participants to pay monthly premiums. Additionally, individuals applying for health care benefits under AccessTN will be required to submit qualified proof that they have been deemed uninsurable at the time application for coverage is made.
While AccessTN does not discriminate based upon individual income or asset holdings, there are specific criteria that must be met. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or qualified legal alien, a resident of Tennessee for a period of six months or more, age 19 or older and uninsurable by medical or insurance determination. Applicants are also required to have been without medical insurance coverage for six months prior to application and must have exhausted all continuation coverage benefits.
Unlike the majority of states throughout the country, Tennessee has been without a high risk health insurance pool for more than a decade, relying solely on its TennCare program to offer relief to those in need of medical health care coverage. It was only through the Cover Tennessee Initiative that AccessTN came to be. AccessTN is one of four health insurance programs to be offered through the state’s Cover Tennessee Initiative. Other programs borne of this initiative are: CoverTN, a partnership between state and small business owners to help working residents of Tennessee purchase affordable medical insurance coverage; CoverKids, a program designed to offer health insurance coverage to children in households earning $50,000 or less per year; and CoverRx, a prescription drug assistance program. Although CoverRx began enrolling participants in December 2006, the CoverKids and CoverTN programs have yet to be launched. State officials are hopeful that both CoverKids and CoverTN will be launched and in the process of enrollment by the end of March.
Although specific plan details of AccessTN have not yet been released, the health plan is likened to the state employee’s health plan and promises to offer comprehensive health care coverage to all participants. Policies will be issued on a guaranteed issue basis, with no eligible participant being denied coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.
Premium assistance for the AccessTN program is also available to individuals whose income is 250% of the federal poverty level, up to an annual household income of $60,000. Premium assistance will only be awarded to those individuals applying for the AccessTN Plan 1000. Funding for the Premium Assistance Program is limited and officials warn that not all individuals meeting the eligibility requirements will qualify for assistance.