TennCare Income Limits 2026: Tennessee Medicaid Chart

For how Tennessee compares with other states, see our national Medicaid income limits guide.

TennCare Income Limits by Household Size (2026)

TennCare prints 6 income lines that decide most family cases, all built on the 2026 poverty guidelines. The guide doesn't print an effective date next to the chart, so the date Grantsights can confirm is the PDF's February 20, 2026 creation date.

Source: TennCare, Eligibility Reference Guide (opens in a new tab), monthly income chart and coverage group descriptions. For each person over 8, TennCare adds $5,680 a year at 100% of poverty. Standard Uninsured is only open to children who lose TennCare Medicaid and roll over into it.

Who's missing from the table: adults 19 to 64 who aren't pregnant, aren't caring for a child and don't have a disability or SSI. TennCare has no full-coverage group for them, which is the coverage gap explained below.

Yearly equivalents

Source: TennCare Eligibility Reference Guide, yearly income chart.

Two TennCare numbers are newer than the federal table. Medicaid.gov's eligibility levels table (opens in a new tab), dated December 1, 2023, still shows Tennessee pregnancy coverage at 195% and parents at 84% (a dollar standard converted to a percentage). TennCare's current guide lists 250% and 100%. The children's lines (195%, 142%, 133%) and CoverKids (250%) match in both.

How TennCare Counts Your Income

TennCare uses MAGI rules (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) for children, parents and caretakers, pregnant women and CoverKids, and none of those 4 groups has an asset test, according to the reference guide's "None" entries under resource limits. Federal MAGI rules also allow a 5% disregard for the highest group a person could qualify for.

How that plays out:

• Gross income, not take-home. Start from pay before taxes. Pre-tax retirement and health premiums come off under tax rules.
• Counted: wages, self-employment profit, unemployment and Social Security benefits of tax household members.
• Not counted: child support you receive, SSI and most veterans' disability pay.
• Household follows tax filing. A parent who claims a child is counted with that child; a non-filer child is counted with parents and siblings. Under 42 CFR 435.603 (opens in a new tab), a pregnant woman counts herself plus each expected baby.
• The 5% disregard, in dollars. Five points of poverty is about $114 a month for a family of three in 2026, so a parent's line can work out to about $2,390 and the CoverKids line to about $5,806, a Grantsights calculation from the 2026 HHS guidelines. TennCare doesn't print those higher figures.

Parents also have a safety net when a raise pushes them over: TennCare's Transitional Medicaid keeps children and caretakers covered after they lose eligibility because of higher earnings or spousal support, if they had caretaker coverage in 3 of the last 6 months.

TennCare for Seniors, Blind and Disabled People: Income and Asset Limits

Tennessee's community coverage for older and disabled adults is tied to the $994 SSI rate, with a $2,000 resource limit, and there's no separate higher-income group for seniors living at home. Per the TennCare reference guide, the 2026 standards are:

Source: TennCare Eligibility Reference Guide (opens in a new tab), Aged, Blind and Disabled and Medicare Cost Sharing categories. Dollar figures for FPL-based rows come from the guide's own monthly chart. SSI-based limits change each January 1.

Medically Needy is for kids and pregnancy only. TennCare's Medically Needy categories cover children under 21 and pregnant women who spend down to these monthly levels: $241 for one person, $258 for two, $317 for three, $325 for four, $392 for five, $408 for six, $467 for seven and $517 for eight. The resource limit is $2,000 for one person and $3,000 for two, plus $100 for each additional person.

SSI is the gateway for most older and disabled Tennesseans; our SSI income limits guide and SSI benefits guide cover how to get it.

CoverKids and the Children's Groups

CoverKids reaches 250% of poverty, nearly double the 133% TennCare line for school-age children, and it's the reason most Tennessee kids in working families have an option. TennCare's guide describes it as coverage for children under 19 and for the unborn children of women who don't qualify under another TennCare category.

Grantsights calculation using TennCare's 2026 monthly chart for a household of four. Final placement depends on TennCare's own review of age, insurance and household.

Tennessee and Medicaid Expansion: Who Falls in the Gap

Tennessee is one of 10 states that haven't expanded Medicaid, according to KFF's tracker dated October 16, 2026 (a non-government compilation), which counts 41 states including DC that have. Tennessee instead runs TennCare under the TennCare III demonstration, which CMS approved on January 8, 2021 for a ten-year period, according to CMS's August 10, 2021 letter to TennCare.

Because premium tax credits on the Marketplace begin at 100% of poverty, as HealthCare.gov's guide to Medicaid expansion (opens in a new tab) explains, any Tennessee adult under that line who has no TennCare group gets no subsidy either.

Tennessee's 100% parent line changes who's stuck. A parent under $2,277 a month in a family of three gets TennCare; a parent above it can use the Marketplace. So for parents, there's no gap. The gap falls on adults without children:

Grantsights calculation from TennCare's 2026 chart and the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines ($15,960 for one, $27,320 for three).

What the 2025 federal law changes for TennCare

• Work requirements and six-month renewals don't reach current TennCare groups. The federal rule in the Federal Register on June 3, 2026 (opens in a new tab) has states start an 80-hour monthly work or community engagement requirement by January 1, 2027, but only for the ACA expansion group. Tennessee doesn't have one.
• Noncitizen eligibility from October 1, 2026: CMS letter SHO #26-001 (opens in a new tab), dated April 8, 2026, limits federal Medicaid and CHIP funding to citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cuban/Haitian entrants and COFA migrants, with limited exceptions. Grantsights didn't find a TennCare notice describing how Tennessee applied it, so check with TennCare Connect if your status is something else. Per the CMS letter, states must first try to reverify an enrollee's immigration status electronically before asking for documents.

Options for adults in the gap

• CoverRx: a state pharmacy program for Tennesseans aged 18 to 64 with no other drug coverage and no Medicare, up to 138% of poverty ($22,025 a year for one person on TennCare's CoverRx income guidelines (opens in a new tab), current as of January 20, 2026). Applicants must have lived in Tennessee for six months.
• Community health centers: sliding-fee clinics, found through HRSA's health center finder (opens in a new tab).
• Breast or Cervical Cancer: full TennCare for people under 65 diagnosed after a CDC-program screening, up to 250% of poverty.

Worked Examples: Tennessee Families in 2026

For example, a family of three in Memphis earning $3,100 a month (a mom with children aged 4 and 9) lands like this:

1. The 4-year-old: the ages 1 to 5 limit for three is $3,233. At $3,100 she's covered by TennCare Medicaid.
2. The 9-year-old: the ages 6 to 18 limit is $3,028, so he's $72 over. He moves to CoverKids, which runs to $5,692.
3. Mom: specifically, she's $823 over the $2,277 parent line, so she doesn't get TennCare. At about 136% of poverty she can buy a Marketplace plan with a premium tax credit.

A couple in Chattanooga expecting their first baby counts as three people. On $5,500 a month together, she's $192 under the $5,692 pregnancy line, so she gets TennCare through the pregnancy, and babies born to Medicaid-eligible mothers are deemed eligible for a year. Her husband isn't covered; at more than double the parent line, he'd look at the Marketplace.

One retiree in Knoxville, a 72-year-old widower, gets $1,250 a month from Social Security and has $3,000 in savings. He's over the SSI limit, and Tennessee has no higher community group for seniors, so he can't get full TennCare at home. He does qualify for QMB, which pays his Medicare premiums, deductibles and coinsurance, because he's under $1,330 and $9,950. If he needed a nursing home, his income would pass the $2,982 line, but he'd have to bring his savings down to $2,000 first.

What TennCare Doesn't Tell You About These Limits

Grantsights analysis of TennCare's 2026 Eligibility Reference Guide and the Medicaid.gov table found 5 things that aren't obvious from the chart:

1. Tennessee closed its parent gap without expanding. At 100% of poverty, the parent line meets the Marketplace subsidy floor exactly. In a state like South Carolina, where the parent line is 62%, a parent at $1,900 a month in a family of three has nothing; in Tennessee, the same parent qualifies for TennCare.
2. The 6th birthday cuts a child's limit by $205. For a family of three, the limit drops from $3,233 (142%) to $3,028 (133%) the month a child turns 6. That usually means a move to CoverKids, not a loss of coverage.
3. Seniors at home have no step between SSI and Medicare help. Many states cover older adults up to 100% of poverty. TennCare's community groups stop at SSI, so a senior with $1,100 in Social Security gets Medicare Savings Program help but not full Medicaid.
4. Pregnancy and CoverKids share one number. Both are 250%, so a pregnant woman whose unborn baby counts in the household lines up with the CoverKids ceiling for the same household size.
5. Medically Needy has shrunk to two groups. Only children and pregnant women can spend down. Adults of any age with high medical bills can't use it unless they're pregnant.

Common Mistakes and Red Flags

A common mistake is reading the 100% column as the limit for everyone. That's only the parent line; children, pregnancy and CoverKids sit much higher, and childless adults have no line at all. If anyone in your house is a child or pregnant, your best bet is to apply even when the adults are clearly over.

Other errors Tennessee applicants make:

• Counting take-home pay. TennCare looks at gross monthly income.
• Leaving out the unborn baby. A pregnant woman on her own is a household of two, with a $4,509 limit instead of $3,325.
• Applying asset limits to families. Children, parents, pregnant women and CoverKids have no resource test.
• Missing renewal mail. TennCare coverage has to be renewed, and a renewal packet that never comes back can end it. Keep your address current in TennCare Connect.
• Underestimating a missed deadline. An appeal filed after 40 days is late unless you can show good cause, and coverage only continues during an appeal if you filed within 20 days of the notice or before your end date.
• Assuming a senior with no SSI gets nothing. QMB, SLMB and QI-1 still pay Medicare costs up to $1,796 a month.

Red flags for scams: applying for TennCare or CoverKids is free. Anyone who charges a fee to apply, promises approval, or texts to ask for your TennCare Connect login isn't the state. Official help comes from TennCare Connect at 855-259-0701 or through tenncareconnect.tn.gov.

How to Apply for TennCare or CoverKids and How Long It Takes

45 days is the point where TennCare's appeals page says you can appeal for a delayed decision, which tells you roughly how long a normal application should take.

1. Apply online through TennCare Connect (tenncareconnect.tn.gov), or call 855-259-0701. One application screens for TennCare and CoverKids together.
2. You can also apply at HealthCare.gov, which sends Medicaid-eligible applications to TennCare.
3. Gather first: recent pay stubs, Social Security numbers for everyone applying, immigration papers where needed, and details of any health insurance a child already has.
4. For long-term care, ask about CHOICES or ECF CHOICES at the same time, since those use the $2,982 income line.
5. Answer requests quickly. Missing documents are the usual reason for a denial.

What to Do If You're Denied

You have 40 days from the date of a denial or termination notice to file an eligibility appeal, according to HCFA Administrative Manual policy 200.055. Appeals filed later can be accepted only with good cause.

• Keep coverage during the appeal: file within 20 days of the notice, or before your coverage end date if that's later. If TennCare's decision is upheld, you may have to repay benefits paid while you waited.
• How to file: call TennCare Connect at 855-259-0701, file online through your TennCare Connect account, mail it to Eligibility Appeals, P.O. Box 23650, Nashville, TN 37202-3650, or fax it free to 844-563-1728, per TennCare's How to File an Eligibility Appeal page (opens in a new tab).
• Waiting too long counts too. If TennCare hasn't decided your application after 45 days, that's grounds for an appeal on its own.
• Check the math. Ask which household size and income TennCare used before the hearing; a wrong tax household is fixable.

If You're Over the Tennessee Medicaid Limit

$15,960 to $63,840 a year is the 2026 range where one adult can get a Marketplace premium tax credit. If you're over TennCare's limits, here's where to look:

• Marketplace coverage: Tennessee uses HealthCare.gov; tax credits run from 100% to 400% of poverty.
• CoverKids for your children: up to $5,692 a month for a family of three, even when parents are over their line.
• Medicare: at 65 or after 24 months of Social Security disability, with QMB, SLMB and QI-1 help up to $1,796 a month.
• WIC: Tennessee families with a pregnant woman, new mom or child under 5 can get WIC up to 185% of poverty; see the WIC income limits guide.
• Food help: see our Tennessee food stamps guide and SNAP income limits guide.
• Older Tennesseans and people with disabilities: the help for seniors programs guide and disability grants for individuals guide list non-TennCare help.
• How 100%, 133% and 250% are set: read the federal poverty guidelines guide.
• Nearby states: Kentucky and Virginia expanded Medicaid and Missouri did too; compare our Kentucky Medicaid income limits guide, Virginia Medicaid income limits guide and Missouri Medicaid income limits guide.

Want to check food, rent or utility help too? Grantsights' free eligibility checker lists official programs worth a look. It doesn't decide TennCare or CoverKids eligibility and doesn't apply for you; TennCare makes that call.

When These Limits Change Next

TennCare's poverty-based limits move once a year after HHS releases new guidelines in January. According to HHS ASPE's 2026 poverty guidelines (opens in a new tab), 100% of poverty is $15,960 for one person and $27,320 for three this year, the same figures in TennCare's guide. TennCare hasn't published a date for its 2027 chart.

SSI-based limits change every January 1. According to SSA's 2027 COLA fact sheet (opens in a new tab), the SSI rate goes from $994 to $1,029 for one person and from $1,491 to $1,544 for a couple in January 2027. Three times $1,029 would put the Institutional Medicaid and Katie Beckett limit at $3,087, a Grantsights calculation; TennCare hadn't posted 2027 figures when Grantsights checked.

FAQ: Tennessee Medicaid Income Limits

What is the TennCare income limit in 2026?

For a family of three: $2,277 a month for a parent, $3,028 for kids 6 to 18, $3,233 for ages 1 to 5, $4,440 for babies and $5,692 for pregnancy or CoverKids.

Did Tennessee expand Medicaid?

No. Adults without children, a pregnancy or a disability generally can't get TennCare.

What is the CoverKids income limit?

250% of poverty: $5,692 a month for three and $6,875 for four.

What is the TennCare limit for pregnant women?

250% of poverty: $4,509 a month for two and $5,692 for three, counting the unborn baby.

Can a single adult get TennCare?

Usually only if pregnant, 65 or older, blind, disabled or on SSI.

What is the nursing home income limit?

$2,982 a month in 2026, with a $2,000 resource limit.

What is the Medically Needy spend-down level?

For children and pregnant women: $241 for one person, $317 for three and $325 for four.

When do the limits change?

Poverty-based limits once a year; SSI-based limits each January 1.

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Sources

1. TennCare: Eligibility Reference Guide (opens in a new tab) and printable PDF (opens in a new tab), created February 20, 2026
2. TennCare: How to File an Eligibility Appeal (opens in a new tab)
3. HCFA Administrative Manual, Policy 200.055: Appeals (opens in a new tab), revised February 2026
4. TennCare: Public Notice on Coverage of Pregnant Women (opens in a new tab) (250% limit effective January 1, 2024)
5. CMS: TennCare III letter to Bureau of TennCare (opens in a new tab), August 10, 2021
6. Medicaid.gov eligibility levels table (December 2023 data), used here for Tennessee (opens in a new tab), state decisions as of December 1, 2023
7. CMS: SHO #26-001, Implementation of Section 71109 "Alien Medicaid Eligibility" (opens in a new tab), April 8, 2026
8. eCFR: 42 CFR 435.603, Application of modified adjusted gross income (opens in a new tab)
9. HHS ASPE: 2026 Poverty Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
10. SSA: 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab)
11. Federal Register: Medicaid Program; Community Engagement Requirement for Certain Individuals (opens in a new tab), June 3, 2026
12. HealthCare.gov: Medicaid expansion and what it means for you (opens in a new tab)
13. HRSA: Find a Health Center (opens in a new tab)
14. KFF (non-government compilation): Status of state Medicaid expansion decisions (opens in a new tab), October 16, 2026