TennCare officials propose using year‑3 shared savings to expand home‑ and community‑based care and workforce supports

TennCare Director Steven Smith told the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on the floor of the Capitol that TennCare’s 10‑year waiver “TennCare 3” has produced nearly $1 billion in shared savings over the last three years and that the agency is proposing to reinvest part of the year‑3 savings in long‑term services, workforce supports and facility improvements.

Smith said the state has already used $100 million of the year‑3 shared savings to provide immediate hurricane relief through a program called HEAL and is proposing to use the remaining roughly $240 million to address long‑term services and supports, including expanding Choices 3, workforce retention payments and nursing facility grants.

The proposal would: expand Choices 3 — a home‑and‑community‑based program that serves adults with physical disabilities and seniors who can remain in the community with supports — to serve an additional 2,000 people; provide $50 million (structured as $10 million per year for five years) for workforce and retention payments to providers serving impacted populations; and provide $50 million in nonrecurring funding for nursing facility infrastructure and workforce needs. Smith said the…