State to help citizens find health care coverage

Cover Tennessee representatives will be answering questions about CoverKids, CoverTN, CoverRx and AccessTN, during a live call-in event from 2 to 6 p.m. today, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.

Cover Tennessee’s two-day, statewide health coverage event coincides with Cover the Uninsured Week, which ends Saturday. The week is a national effort to highlight the fact too many Americans live without health insurance.

Cover Tennessee is Gov. Phil Bredesen’s multi-pronged effort to extend health insurance to uninsured children and adults in Tennessee.

During Cover Tennessee’s Call-In For Coverage, Tennesseans who may qualify can call 1-866-576-0028 to ask questions about the programs, find out if they qualify, and get assistance with the application process.

Callers should have basic information available, such as Social Security numbers and income information for CoverKids, CoverRx and AccessTN, and federal employer identification numbers and Tennessee employer account numbers to enroll in CoverTN.

There are several prongs of the governor’s initiative which offers basic, affordable health coverage for employees of Tennessee’s small businesses, the self-employed, and people working at companies that do not provide employer-sponsored health insurance.

There is also CoverKids which allows qualifying children 18 and under to get free, comprehensive health insurance for health care services such as vaccinations, doctor visits, prescriptions and hospital visits.

There is also CoverRx, a pharmacy assistance program which provides uninsured Tennesseans access to affordable prescriptions.

And finally there is AccessTN which offers health insurance to Tennesseans with uninsurable or catastrophic health care conditions.

For more information on Cover Tennessee and its programs, visit www.covertn.gov.