The Tennessee Department of Human Services received 2,500 calls to the dedicated Standard Spend Down phone line between 6 and 7:15 p.
m. CST on Tuesday, February 21. The phone lines are now closed. Standard Spend Down is a waiver to the state’s TennCare program for a specific group of adults—aged, blind, disabled or the relative caretaker of a Medicaid-eligible child. The program is targeted to individuals who have very low incomes or very high medical bills.
The 2,500 individuals who called to request an application will be screened to determine if they are already receiving TennCare benefits. If so, they will receive a letter informing them that they are already enrolled in the program. Those who are not currently enrolled in TennCare will be sent an application for the Standard Spend Down program. These applications will be placed in the mail within the next two weeks. The interested applicant has 30 days to mail their information back to the Tennessee Department of Human Services in the postage-paid envelopes contained in their application packet.