Tennessee Medicaid Estate Recovery

TennCare is clear that estate recovery happens only after a member's death, and family members aren't personally on the hook for the debt. For any CHOICES Group 1, 2, or 3 member who received care at 55 or older, the state says it must pursue recovery unless a statutory waiver or an undue-hardship exception applies.

One detail families often miss: TennCare's recovery includes the long-term-care portion of the managed-care premium paid on the member's behalf, even in a month where the member used less care than that premium amount covered. That means trying to estimate recovery just by counting actual home-care hours or facility days used will usually understate the real number.