Tennessee grants
& benefits: TennCare, tax relief and One DHS.

Tennessee still sits outside the ACA Medicaid expansion, one of 10 non-adopting states as counted by KFF on October 1, 2026. TennCare covers people who fit a listed group: children, pregnant women, parents and caretaker relatives, former foster youth under 26, and several groups for older, blind and disabled people.

Parents and caretaker relatives of a child under 18 qualify only if income is no higher than the federal poverty line, which TennCare's chart puts at $2,277 monthly for three people. Families who lose that coverage because earnings rise may keep Transitional Medicaid for a time.

Children get more room. Medicaid limits reach 195% of poverty for babies and 133% for children 6 to 18. CoverKids then takes children under 19 with income as high as 250%, or $82,500 a year for a family of four, and none of these groups has a resource test.

TennCare runs the Medicare Savings Programs. QMB pays Medicare premiums, deductibles and coinsurance for people up to 100% of poverty. SLMB (100% to under 120%) and QI 1 (120% to under 135%) cover only the Part B premium.

All three share a resource limit of $9,950 if single and $14,910 for two people. A fourth program, QDWI, pays the Part A premium for people who lost premium-free Part A after returning to work, if income does not pass 200% of poverty and resources stay within $4,000 for one.

For free advice that does not promote any insurer, call TN SHIP at 1-877-801-0044 or email dda.ship@tn.gov. Its counselors compare drug plans and can help people under 150% of poverty apply for help with Medicare costs.

The state Property Tax Relief Program reimburses part or all of the property tax on a home for low-income owners who are 65 or older or disabled, and for disabled veterans and their surviving spouses. It dates to 1973 and reaches over 100,000 people a year.

For 2026 bills, elderly and disabled owners need 2025 income of $38,470 or less, counting a spouse and any co-owner. Relief is figured on up to $33,600 of market value. For qualifying disabled veterans and surviving spouses it is figured on up to $175,000, with no income limit listed.

It is not an exemption: the bill still comes and must be paid. Apply at the county trustee or city collecting official when the 2026 bill arrives, by 35 days after the delinquency date. Veterans sign form F-16 and surviving spouses form F-16S so the VA can confirm the rating.

Under the Property Tax Freeze Act, in effect since July 1, 2007, a participating county or city can hold the tax on a home at the amount owed in the year the owner first qualifies. A rate increase or reappraisal does not raise it, but new improvements or a move to another house do.

Each place sets its own 2026 income limit. Limits run from $38,470 in counties such as Bledsoe and Hancock to $69,150 in Williamson County. Counties that chose the higher local option, including Davidson, Knox and Shelby, use $63,470.

You reapply every year with proof of age, ownership and income. The freeze comes on top of state tax relief, and approval for tax relief counts as proof of age and income, though the freeze still needs its own application.

On December 10, 2025, USDA approved Tennessee's request to stop SNAP from buying processed foods and drinks such as soda, energy drinks and candy, for two years from July 31, 2026. The state's food definitions were revised on May 21, 2026.

On June 22, 2026, ahead of that start date, a judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the approval in Aragon v. Rollins and ruled that the waiver's implementation may not proceed. USDA's Tennessee waiver page now leads with that notice.

Apply for SNAP on the One DHS Customer Portal or call 833-772-8347. After H.R. 1, adults 18 to 64 with no child under 14 at home get 3 months of SNAP in 3 years unless they work, volunteer or train 80 hours or more each month.

Families First, Tennessee's version of TANF, pays cash to households raising a child under 18 for at most 60 months in a lifetime. The asset limit is $2,000, and adults who are not exempt agree to 30 hours a week of work or training.

THDA's LIHEAP is one-time help with heating or cooling costs while funding lasts. The payment goes from the local agency straight to the utility or fuel supplier, and household income cannot exceed 60% of state median income.

For the 2025 to 2026 program, online applications opened November 1, 2025 on THDA's SmartSimple portal, and awards ran from $174 at the low end to $750 at the top, set by how much of the household's income goes to energy.

THDA posts the 2026 to 2027 dates and award range on the same page when the new season opens, and the agency serving your county can help you apply.