The State of Tennessee is suspending enrollment in CoverTN, the state's health insurance plan for working uninsured. Individuals or employers wishing to participate must pre-qualify by Nov. 30, 2009 and enroll by Dec. 31st, 2009, according to a recent notice.

The state announced in October that is also suspending enrollment in CoverKids, the state's health insurance program for uninsured children, as of Nov. 30, 2009.

CoverTN covers over 20,000 Tennessee adults, and CoverKids has nearly 42,000 children enrolled. State officials say enrollment is being suspended for both programs because they are both at budget capacity.

• CoverTN press release

• CoverKids press release

• More info on state insurance programs

According to Kaiser Family Foundation research, as of 2008 there are 904,100 uninsured in Tennessee, including 757,400 adults and 146,700 children. 593,000 of Tennessee's uninsured have at least one full-time worker in the family, and 348,400 are under 100% of the Federal Poverty Level.

As of Jul. 2009 there are 1,216,419 Tennessee residents on TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, and 995,254 are covered by Medicare as of 2008.

Roughly one half of the state's population is either on government-run health care or uninsured.

As of 2008 there are 2,920,800 Tennessee residents covered by employer health insurance plans. Only 56% of employers offer coverage, and only 39% of companies with less than 50 employees offer coverage.

State law does not require employers of any size to provide coverage, and allows insurance companies to deny individual coverage for any reason.