What is the difference between TennCare CHOICES and OPTIONS?
TennCare CHOICES is Medicaid: it requires Medicaid financial eligibility and nursing-home-level (or at-risk) care needs, and covers a broad set of services including ACLF services; OPTIONS for Community Living is state-funded, has no income limit, charges a sliding fee, and covers homemaker, personal care and home-delivered meals.
Both are reached through the same front door in the Memphis area: the Aging Commission of the Mid-South's Information and Assistance line, (901) 222-4111, which screens callers for CHOICES and enrolls people in OPTIONS.
Who should apply for OPTIONS instead of CHOICES?
A Memphis-area adult with limitations in daily activities whose income or assets are too high for TennCare, or who needs a modest amount of help at home rather than nursing-home-level care, is a natural OPTIONS candidate.
OPTIONS services depend on available funding and level of need, so there may be a wait. If needs grow and savings fall, a person can later apply for CHOICES.
Can CHOICES or OPTIONS pay for assisted living?
CHOICES can: Groups 2 and 3 cover Assisted Care Living Facility services, with the member paying room and board; OPTIONS cannot, because it covers in-home homemaker, personal care and meal services only.
For a parent who wants to move to an ACLF and has limited means, the path usually runs through CHOICES Group 2 (nursing-facility level of care) and a facility that accepts CHOICES members.
What should we have ready when we call the Aging Commission of the Mid-South?
A short list of the daily activities your parent needs help with, who helps now and how often, recent hospital stays, current medications, monthly income, and approximate savings, so the Information and Assistance worker can screen for CHOICES and OPTIONS in one call.
Ask the worker which program fits, whether there is a wait, what the sliding fee would be for OPTIONS, and whether home-delivered meals can start while other services are arranged.
Can someone receive OPTIONS while waiting for CHOICES?
Ask the Aging Commission of the Mid-South; OPTIONS and CHOICES are separate programs, and an Information and Assistance worker can explain whether OPTIONS services can bridge the time until a CHOICES application is decided.
Home-delivered meals are often the quickest service to start while other help is arranged.
At a glance
| TennCare CHOICES | OPTIONS for Community Living | |
|---|---|---|
| Funding | Medicaid (TennCare) | State funds |
| Income test | $2,982/month cap in 2026 (trust option above) | None; sliding fee |
| Assisted living | ACLF services covered (Groups 2 and 3) | Not covered |
| Front door | Aging Commission of the Mid-South or health plan | Aging Commission of the Mid-South |
Sources include Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. chapters 0720-26, 0720-21 and 0720-18, Health Facilities Commission and TennCare pages, CareScout and VA rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
