Tennessee To Seek Medicaid Block Grant

On May 24, 2019, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation directing the state’s Division of Finance and Administration (DFA) to request federal approval to transition the Medicaid program to a block grant. The legislation, Tennessee House Bill 1280 of 2019 directs DFA to submit a waiver amendment to the existing TennCare II waiver, or to submit a new waiver to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within 180 days after the bill is signed.

Currently, Tennessee’s federal funding for fiscal year 2018 to 2019 totals $7.5 billion. If approved by the federal government, the . . .