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Cost & Benefits

Benefits / Tennessee

Medicaid eligibility in Tennessee

Simple answer

Full adult Medicaid expansion is not in place here.

Tennessee has not fully expanded Medicaid. We do not guess the adult cutoff. Children and pregnant people still have a path.

Who is inside Medicaid or CHIP on the rules we can verify? A household of four is measured against $33,000. Tennessee has not adopted the full ACA Medicaid expansion.

The largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gap among ranked metros in Tennessee is $497: Nashville at $1,798 and Memphis at $1,301.

Tennessee has no tax on wages. Combined state and local sales tax is 9.6%. The ACS effective property tax rate is 0.45%.

A household of four with $48,000 of income is about 145 percent of the $33,000 poverty guideline and is a maybe for Medicaid and CHIP. Maybe — a state pathway is unverified or only part of the household fits.

Limits behind the page

2026 poverty guideline in Tennessee
Household100%138%185%
1$15,960$22,025$29,526
2$21,640$29,863$40,034
3$27,320$37,702$50,542
4$33,000$45,540$61,050

An illustrative household

Two adults, ages 34 and 32, filing jointly, plus children ages 8 and 3. Gross income $48,000 a year, about 145 percent of the poverty guideline in Tennessee. They rent. Nobody is marked disabled or pregnant.

Medicaid and CHIP

Maybe

Maybe — a state pathway is unverified or only part of the household fits

  • This household is at 145 percent of the 2026 poverty guideline for Tennessee ($33,000). 138 percent of that guideline is $45,540.
  • Children above 138 percent of poverty may still qualify for CHIP. The CHIP ceiling in Tennessee is not verified in the dataset.
  • Tennessee has not adopted the ACA expansion. Parent Medicaid limits are state-specific and are not verified here, so parents are a maybe rather than a no.
See Medicaid and CHIP on HealthCare.gov

Check my household · Privacy

Food stamps (SNAP) tools in Tennessee

Other programs in Tennessee

Large metros in Tennessee

Medicaid and CHIP in other states