Over 100,000 children in Tennessee are without healthcare

JACKSON, Tenn.–“I feel sad that our kids don’t have healthcare,” said Tom Hughes, a Jackson resident.

Up to 128,000 children no longer have healthcare coverage in Tennessee.

“This issue is directly related to TennCare’s re-determination system,” said Kinika Young, Director of Children’s Health with Tennessee’s Justice Center.

Young said she’s received many calls referring to issues with TennCare’s Annual Renewal process.

“TennCare didn’t receive the re-determination packet from the family, either because the family didn’t get it or the family, for whatever reason, didn’t return it to TennCare,” Young said.

Young said she reached out TennCare for more information on the issue.

“What we have been told is that the drop in enrollment is because the economy is doing better and these families no longer qualify,” Young said.

Young says in many situations with these families, the issue is not based on the fact that these children aren’t eligible for TennCare, but that TennCare does not have proper documentation that indicates if they are or not eligible.

In a statement to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News, leaders of TennCare said, “Many members did lose coverage because they failed to respond to requests for information.”

Young said TennCare cannot make an accurate determination to say if a child is eligible or not.

Yet the issue at hand is more than 100,000 children are still without healthcare in Tennessee.

A local nurse, who did not want to be identified, says healthcare for children is important.

“As parents, we have a responsibility to uphold the health of our children, so anything we can do to provide that healthcare, whether it’s free or not, is important,”the nurse said.

“There’s a whole lot of pull yourself up by the bootstrap mentality around these days, that’s just not working. It’s about time we band together and help each other out,” Hughes said.

Leaders with the Tennessee Justice Center also said if you have questions to contact them at (615) 846-4709.

Leaders of TennCare also said if you have questions about TennCare eligibility at 1-855-259-0701.