---
title: "Tennessee Nursing Home Medicaid | Funding LTC Marketplace"
url: https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/tennessee/nursing-home-medicaid/
description: "CHOICES nursing-facility coverage uses a level-of-care determination and a $70 monthly personal-needs allowance."
last_updated: 2026-10-20
author: George A. Mellendorf, CLTC, LTCP (Central States Insurance Services, Inc.)
publisher: Funding LTC Marketplace
note: Educational content; not legal, tax or financial advice. Markdown copy of the HTML page at the URL above.
---
Tennessee · Nursing Home Coverage

# Tennessee Nursing Home Medicaid

Last updated 2026-10-20

Nursing-facility Medicaid in Tennessee runs through TennCare CHOICES. Group 1 covers people of any age receiving nursing-facility care, while Group 2 covers qualifying adults who meet that same nursing-facility level of care but elect home- and community-based services instead — which is why the same clinical threshold matters for both institutional and community planning.

Getting into either group isn't purely a financial exercise. TennCare requires nursing-facility level of care for both Group 1 and Group 2, and its guidance describes a Pre-Admission Evaluation, or PAE, as the process used to confirm that someone actually needs a nursing-facility or intermediate-care level of care.

TennCare CHOICES also builds in a personal-needs allowance for nursing-facility residents once they're approved — $70 a month is set aside for the resident's own use after the facility's share of cost is calculated.

## Tennessee figures

- Nursing-facility personal-needs allowance: $70/month

## Sources and official resources

- [TennCare: CHOICES](https://www.tn.gov/tenncare/long-term-services-supports/choices.html)
- [CMS: 2026 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards](https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib04272026.pdf)

Rules and figures change. Confirm current details with the agency before you act.

[← Back to the full Tennessee guide](https://fundingltcmarketplace.com/states/tennessee/)