A federal appeals court has upheld an order requiring Tennessee's Medicaid program to provide applicants with a fair hearing if it cannot process their requests on time.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of TennCare applicants. By law, applications for most forms of Medicaid should be processed within 45 days. Applications based on disability are allowed 90 days.
A federal judge in Nashville issued a temporary order in 2014 requiring the state to provide hearings to those whose applications were not timely processed. The state asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the suit on technical grounds.
A panel ruled Monday 2-1 to uphold the decision.
