?11724657 Notice of Change to the TennCare III Program Coverage of ECF CHOICES Services   The Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration is providing official notification of a planned change to the TennCare program. This change entails enhancements to the benefits available under the TennCare Employment and Community First (ECF) CHOICES program. TennCare is publishing this notice pursuant to 42 CFR § 431.408 and the terms and conditions of the TennCare demonstration in order to solicit public input on this planned change.   Within the TennCare demonstration, ECF CHOICES provides an array of home- and community-based services (HCBS) to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).   Effective January 1, 2026, TennCare will cover the following benefits for individuals enrolled in ECF CHOICES Group 7:        • Supportive Home Care, and      • Respite.   These benefits will be added to the array of HCBS available under ECF CHOICES for members of Group 7.   Supportive Home Care consists of—        • Hands-on assistance with activities of daily living.      • Observation of the person supported to assure safety,         oversight direction of the person to complete activities         of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living.      • Routine housecleaning and housekeeping activities         performed for the person supported, consisting of         tasks that take place on a daily, weekly, or other regular         basis.      • Necessary cleaning of vehicles, wheelchairs, and other         adaptive equipment and home modifications such as         ramps.   Respite consists of services provided to a person supported when unpaid caregivers are absent or need relief from routine caregiving responsibilities. Respite is limited to 30 days of service per person per calendar year or up to 216 hours per person per calendar year.   The addition of Supportive Home Care and Respite as covered benefits for individuals in ECF CHOICES Group 7 will not result in the enrollment of additional persons in the TennCare program. This change is expected to result in an increase of $2,238,300 in annual aggregate expenditures under the TennCare program. TennCare received recurring legislative appropriations beginning with State Fiscal Year 2026 to support this change.   The full public notice associated with these changes is available on the TennCare website at https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tenncare/documents2/ECFCHOICESSupportiveHomeCareComprehensiveNotice.pdf.   Members of the public who wish to comment on these proposed changes may send written comments by mail to Mr. Aaron Butler, Director of Policy, Division of TennCare, 310 Great Circle Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37243, or by email to public.notice.tenncare@tn.gov. Persons wishing to review copies of written comments received may submit their requests to the same email and/or physical address. The last day on which comments will be accepted is October 29, 2025.   Individuals who prefer to make their comments in person may attend one of the following public hearings to comment on these planned changes:   • A public hearing will be held electronically on October 15, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. CT. Members of the public interested in attending this hearing may access the event on the morning of October 15 at https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YzFjNTYyY2YtNTVjNi00MjRhLTlmNz UtZjdkNzVkMWYxYmQz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b% 22Tid%22%3a%22f345bebf-0d71-4337-9281-24b941616c 36%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d6fc60e6-dc2c-4e34-8262-ec0bb24d7bdb%22%7d.   • A public hearing will be held in person on October 16, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. CT in the TennCare Building, 310 Great Circle Road in Nashville.   Individuals with disabilities or individuals with limited English proficiency who wish to participate in one of the hearings and who may require language or communication assistance to do so should contact Talley Olson of TennCare’s Office of Civil Rights Compliance by phone at (855) 857-1673 or by email at HCFA.fairtreatment@tn.gov prior to the date of the hearing.   Copies of this notice will be available in each county office of the Tennessee Department of Health.   We do not treat people in a different way because of their race, color, birthplace, language, age, disability, religion, or sex. https://www.tn.gov/tenncare/members-applicants/ civil-rights-compliance.html