Federal Government Will Not Allow CoverTN To Continue

Federal officials have informed the state that they would not extend the necessary waiver to allow the CoverTN program to continue beyond December 31, 2013.

Due to reported difficulties accessing insurance on the federal Marketplace, the state identified the state dollars needed to fund an extension in coverage and asked federal officials if they would grant a waiver which would allow the CoverTN program to continue to provide coverage to members until April 30, 2014. This would have allowed members to maintain current coverage for 30 days following the end of the Marketplace open enrollment period.

However, federal officials informed the state that no waivers would be granted. A waiver would be required for programs that have annual limits to continue to operate after January 1, 2014. CoverTN is a limited benefit program that has a $25,000 annual limit.

Members were notified in September that their coverage would be ending December 31, 2013 due to new federal regulations and that they should seek coverage through the federal Marketplace.