The Healthy Indiana Plan, a health insurance option for adult residents of Indiana, ran out of funds for the year on July 24, according to a press release.
The program has stopped accepting applications, but will continue processing forms submitted prior to July 24.
Created by the Indiana General Assembly in 2007, the health insurance options provides coverage to state residents with an income of up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
Jim Gavin, director of communications and media for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, said HIP was designed to be an affordable option that requires only minimal contributions from the policy holder.
“The Healthy Indiana Plan uses a proven, consumer-driven approach that was pioneered in Indiana,” Gavin said in an email. “It is a public health care assistance program that replicates consumer-driven health insurance options available in Indiana’s private insurance market today.”
HIP was extended in 2013 by the federal government with the condition that the state could adjust eligibility during the year if the state could not cover the cost of the applicants.
The program was given a $112-billion apportionment by the state for this year, according to Gavin. The federal government pays for approximately 67 percent of HIP costs.
The state funds the program with a tobacco tax.
According to Gavin, the federal government will not penalize the uninsured that would have qualified for HIP.
Indiana submitted a proposal to the federal government for the creation of HIP 2.0, a state health insurance plan that would expand upon the benefits offered in the current option.
The pending HIP 2.0 proposal includes changes such as raising the maximum income level from 100 percent to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, according to a press release. It will continue to be funded by the tobacco tax.
Approval for the expansion is expected in 2015.
Although applications for HIP have been suspended for the rest of the year, enrollment could reopen this year if the number of applicants decreases, according to the press release.
Carmen Heredia
Rodriguez
