About TN Health Coverage Explained

TN Health Coverage Explained is an independent, not-for-profit educational website. It exists for one reason: to help Tennesseans figure out health coverage. What plans can you buy, when can you buy them, how do you pay for them, and how do you use them once you have them?

We write in plain English, we stay Tennessee-specific, and we check every claim against official sources before it goes on the page.

Our promise to you

• We will never sell you anything. Not insurance, not a "free quote," not a product of any kind.
• We will never ask for your phone number or sell your information. There's no sign-up form here, and our tools run entirely in your browser.
• We take no money from the industry. No insurer ads, no broker commissions, no referral fees, no paid rankings, no sponsored content.
• We don't make a profit from this site. Any money that ever supports it goes to keeping the information accurate and free.
• We'll tell you the downsides of every option, including the ones that make people money, like short-term plans.
• We'll always point you to free, official help for one-on-one decisions: HealthCare.gov, GetCoveredTenn Navigators, TennCare Connect, and TN SHIP for Medicare.

Why this site exists

Health insurance is hard to buy in Tennessee for a specific, fixable reason: nobody owns the plain-English, Tennessee-specific layer.

The national sites are generic. HealthCare.gov is where you enroll, but it isn't built to explain how Tennessee's options compare. KFF publishes excellent national analysis, but it won't tell you which insurers sell in your rating area or which state agency to call when a claim is denied.

The insurer sites sell. Their job is to sell their plans, not to explain the trade-offs of their competitors' plans or tell you that a competitor's silver plan might be a better deal with cost-sharing reductions.

The broker sites rank, but they don't explain. Many exist to capture your phone number, not to help you understand how a premium tax credit actually works.

So TN Health Coverage Explained was built to be the missing layer: the most complete, most current, most Tennessee-specific explainer — every claim sourced, every page stamped with a verification date, no sales motive behind any of it. It was founded by [FOUNDER NAME], [FOUNDER BACKGROUND].

Who it's for

This site is written for the people who buy coverage on their own in Tennessee and everyone who helps them do it:

• People losing employer coverage and shopping the marketplace for the first time
• The self-employed and freelancers estimating income for subsidies
• Young adults aging off a parent's plan at 26
• Low-income households weighing TennCare, CoverKids, and marketplace plans
• Early retirees bridging the years before Medicare
• People turning 65 and entering Medicare's separate enrollment system
• Small-business owners deciding how to cover their employees
• Adult children, navigators, and HR-adjacent helpers guiding someone else through it

If you already have straightforward employer coverage and understand it, this site may be more than you need. For everyone else — welcome.

How we're funded, and why we're independent

TN Health Coverage Explained is funded by [FOUNDER NAME] and run on a not-for-profit basis: the site doesn't earn money from what it publishes. We accept no advertising from insurers, no commissions or referral payments, no sponsored content, and no payments for placement in any ranking, carrier list, or recommendation on the site. We don't sell insurance, we don't enroll anyone, and we can't accept your premium dollars.

That independence is structural, not just a promise. Because we don't take money from anyone with a plan to sell, we can write honestly about the downsides of every option — the coverage gap in Tennessee Medicaid, the risks of short-term plans, the waiting periods in Farm Bureau health plans, the math of a marketplace plan versus employer coverage. If we ever accept outside support, such as donations or grants from organizations with no stake in what you buy, we'll list it on this page. We will never take money from anyone who sells health insurance or health care in exchange for coverage on this site.

What we do and don't do

We do: explain how Tennessee's health insurance options work, answer the same questions in plain English every time, cite our sources, stamp every factual page with a verification date, re-check everything each open enrollment, and correct our errors publicly.

We don't: give personal insurance advice, recommend a specific plan for your situation, enroll you in anything, or publish specific premium prices (they vary by age, county, and tobacco use and change every year — we teach you how to check current rates instead).

For the full details, read how we verify every fact on this site, or contact us with a question, a correction, or a tip.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes the content on this site? An editorial team led by [FOUNDER NAME], [FOUNDER BACKGROUND]. We are editors and researchers, not insurance agents — we don't hold appointments with any insurer, and we don't take commissions.

Is this site affiliated with the Tennessee state government or TennCare? No. We cite Tennessee government sources — the Department of Commerce & Insurance, TennCare, CoverKids — because they're the authoritative record, but we're independent. For official answers, go to HealthCare.gov (1-800-318-2596), TennCare Connect, or TDCI directly.

Is this a nonprofit? Yes in spirit and in practice: TN Health Coverage Explained is run on a not-for-profit basis, for education only. It doesn't sell anything, doesn't run ads, and doesn't earn commissions.

How do you make money? We don't. The site is funded by its founder, [FOUNDER NAME], to help people, not to earn revenue. We don't run ads, take commissions, sell leads, or sell sponsored placements. If that ever changes, this page will say so.

Are you trying to sell me insurance? No. There's no quote form, no agent, and no one will call you. Many health insurance websites exist to collect your phone number and pass it to sales agents; this isn't one of them.

Why should I trust this site over a broker or an insurer? Brokers and insurers have plans to sell; we don't. That doesn't make us smarter than them — a good local broker can be genuinely useful — but it means our incentives point at accuracy, not at a sale. Every factual claim links to a primary source and carries a verification date, so you don't have to take our word for it.

Can you help me pick a plan? We can't — we're not licensed to give personal insurance advice, and we don't enroll anyone. What we can do is help you understand the trade-offs so you can decide. For one-on-one help, call HealthCare.gov at 1-800-318-2596 or GetCoveredTenn at 1-866-475-7879; both are free.

Sources

• How we verify — our full methodology, corrections policy, and list of primary sources
• Contact — how to reach the editorial team
• Glossary — health insurance terms in plain English