WICS Live: Around the States

Tennessee: CMS Approves TennCare Proposal to Allow MCOs to Coordinate Beneficiaries’ Long Term Services and Supports. Currently, TennCare enrollees may have to with different entities for physical, behavioral, and long-term care. Now, the enrollee will be able to work with their managed care organizations (MCOs) to coordinate all needed services. The approval of the waiver brings the state closer to implementing legislation enacted in 2008 aimed at expanding home care and community-based services for individuals with disabilities and the elderly under TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Integrating long-term services into the managed care delivery system will take between six months and nine months to implement, according to state officials, since contracts with insurers need to be renegotiated and appropriate rates must be set.