Tennessee First With Plan for Block Granting Medicaid Money

Tennessee is the first state to request nearly $8 billion in federal Medicaid funding up front—a change to the low-income healthcare assistance program long sought by conservatives.

If the Trump administration approves Tennessee’s request, announced Sept. 17, to block grant its Medicaid program—known as TennCare—other red states could make similar requests. An approval would kick off a flurry of lawsuits as well.

The capped funding could affect 1.4 million Tennesseans who would likely face new limits on their care or eligibility for the state program.

Medicaid is funded by a unique state-federal partnership where each state receives a certain ...