What is the Katie Beckett Waiver?
I got a text from my friend Wendi Smith this week. It read "Have you heard of the Katie Beckett Waiver ?" That text is the catalyst for this weeks blog!
The Katie Beckett Waiver is a Tennessee program that is evolving and in its infancy. Its purpose is to give some financial relief to parents raising children with complex medical needs but whose income often excludes them from state funded programs.
Tennessee Lawmakers signed House Bill 498 on 5/29/2019 that directs the State/Federal Government to create a program (Katie Beckett Waiver), to service children under 19 years old with complex medical needs and who traditionally do not qualify for medicaid. Governor Bill Lee signed this into Law on 7/12/2019 and this sets into motion the process of formulating the program.
Right now it appears that there are two pathways to eligibility:
Part A: Will serve children will severe and complex medical needs that would traditionally qualify for institutional based care but are cared for at home. Their parent's income will not be used to determine their eligibility for medicaid. If they qualify they will receive full medicaid benefits that their parents private insurance does not cover. (My interpretation is that Tenncare becomes the secondary coverage). They may also be eligible for Home and Community Based services. For further details go https://www.tn.gov/didd/katie-beckett-waiver.html
Part B: Will serve children with severe and complex medical needs but who traditionally would not qualify for care in an institution. They would not qualify for medicaid but their parents could receive up to $10000 a year to qualify for private insurance premiums and for expenses not covered under their insurance coverage.
To find out if you qualify contact you regional Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities(DIDD)
West Tennessee Regional Office: (866) 372 5709
Middle Tennessee Regional Office: (800) 654 4839
East Tennessee Regional Office: (888) 531 9876
I will post more on this as I receive new information. Sign up for the newsletter at https://www.raisingkellan.org/ to stay informed. During the course of researching for this blog I came across https://www.kidswaivers.org/ .This is a statewide database run by complex child magazine to educate parents on waivers. This has nuggets of information and well worth the read. Thank you Wendi Smith for sharing this with us! Remember as always, we are stronger together!