The 2026 Tennessee penalty divisor
For transfers governed by the current policy, TennCare publishes an average private-pay nursing-facility rate effective January 1, 2026 of $295.87 per day, with a stated monthly equivalent of $8,846.10. The policy uses the daily rate when it calculates the number of penalty days. TennCare transfer policy
The basic calculation divides uncompensated value by the applicable average daily private-pay rate at the application or transfer date, whichever is later, and rounds down to a whole day. Nursing-facility and HCBS cases use the same approach, so an old monthly-only online example can be misleading. TennCare transfer policy
2026 Tennessee divisor: $295.87 per day / $8,846.10 per month, effective January 1, 2026. The policy says the result is rounded down to whole days and penalty periods run consecutively.
TennCare transfer policy
Some transfers have explicit exceptions
TennCare lists exceptions including transfers to a spouse, to a blind or disabled child or qualifying sole-benefit trust, and certain home transfers to a spouse, qualifying child, qualifying sibling, or qualifying caretaker child. The exact residence, care, disability, and timing requirements matter. TennCare transfer policy
A fair-market-value exchange or conversion is not automatically an uncompensated transfer when the individual receives fair market value and remains the owner of the replacement asset. The policy gives examples involving an automobile and an irrevocable burial arrangement, but each transaction has its own documentation issue. TennCare transfer policy
Do not assume hardship or a deed solves a penalty
TennCare allows a hardship request when the policy’s resource and deprivation conditions are met, with stated filing and appeal deadlines. A transfer review also applies to home interests, life estates, trusts, and deeds when the facts create an uncompensated transfer. TennCare transfer policy
A Tennessee elder-law attorney should review a proposed gift or home transfer before it is made. The questions are the actual value received, the date, the owner’s retained rights, the proper exception, and the current penalty rate—not simply the label on the document. TennCare transfer policy
Not mutually exclusive. Most families combine two or three funding pillars — this one rarely stands alone.
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