Last verified November 1, 2026, against Division of TennCare sources listed at the end of this article.

TennCare at a glance

TennCare is Tennessee's Medicaid program. Members receive their benefits through a managed care organization (MCO), which TennCare also calls the member's health plan. The three MCOs are:

  • BlueCare Tennessee
  • UnitedHealthcare Community Plan
  • Wellpoint (formerly known as Amerigroup)

TennCare's member page also lists TennCare Select. The name of a member's health plan is printed on their TennCare card, which makes the card the first thing to ask about at intake.

If your intake scripts, forms, or software still say "Amerigroup" for Tennessee, update them. TennCare now refers to the plan as Wellpoint.

Behavioral health coverage

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Behavioral Health Services, part of the Division of TennCare, oversees all mental health and substance use disorder services for TennCare members. Based on medical necessity, covered services include:

  • Family and individual psychotherapy
  • Medication management
  • Intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs
  • Substance use treatment
  • Crisis stabilization
  • Peer support and psychosocial rehabilitation
  • Applied behavior analysis
  • Psychiatric inpatient care and residential treatment

Members find behavioral health providers through their MCO's provider directory, so network participation is set plan by plan. Being in network with one TennCare MCO does not mean you are in network with all three.

How to verify TennCare eligibility

TennCare providers verify eligibility through TennCare Online Services, reached through the MyTennCare login at mylogin.tenncare.gov.

Since October 30, 2020, the eligibility lookup accepts a search by first name, last name, and date of birth. A Social Security number or Recipient ID is not required for that search. A few details matter:

  • Every search requires a Request Date Span. Use the date of the planned appointment, not only today's date.
  • A name and date of birth search returns only a single exact match. If more than one record matches, use the Recipient ID or Social Security number instead.
  • The First Name field holds 15 characters and the Last Name field holds 20, so collect the name exactly as it appears on the TennCare card.

Check the renewal date, too

TennCare encourages providers to check a member's renewal date and remind them to renew as they schedule appointments. You can find it in two places:

  • TennCare Online Services eligibility verification.
  • My TennCare Partner Portal: open the TennCare Access Portal and search with the member's date of birth and Social Security number or Person ID. This requires the member's permission to view their case information. The renewal date appears in an "Upcoming Renewal" or "Time to Renew" box.

Members can also see their own renewal date at TennCareConnect.TN.gov or by calling 855-259-0701. A client whose renewal falls in the middle of a course of treatment is a client at risk of a coverage gap, so a short reminder at intake protects both the client and your billing.

A TennCare intake checklist

  • Full legal name and date of birth exactly as they appear on the TennCare card
  • The health plan named on the card
  • Recipient ID, if the client has it, for cases where a name search returns more than one match
  • The date of the first appointment, to use as the Request Date Span
  • Confirmation that your practice is in network with that plan
  • The member's renewal date, and a reminder to the client if it is close

Why this matters at the first contact

People seeking care often want to know one thing before anything else: will you take my insurance? In Gwinnett County, Georgia, Medicaid-panel inquiries drop off at intake at a 40% higher rate than commercial-insurance inquiries, mainly because of the delay in confirming eligibility. The longer a person waits for an answer, the more likely they are to try another practice.

BHSAI configures intake to verify eligibility and identify the client's plan during the first conversation, before scheduling. See how that works for Tennessee practices, or read about the Medicaid effect on intake.

Sources

This article is general information for practice operations, not legal or billing advice.