Obama will arrive in Evansville on Friday.
Pence wants to discuss Indiana’s pending application with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand health insurance coverage for Hoosiers through HIP 2.0, according to a press release.
Healthy Indiana Plan is a health insurance program sponsored by the state that aims to provide affordable health care for uninsured Hoosiers, according to in.gov .
In his letter to the president, Pence asks for a timely approval for the state’s request to expand HIP.
“The Healthy Indiana Plan is a better program than traditional Medicaid, and I cannot in good conscience relegate more Hoosiers to traditional Medicaid when a better and more effective alternative is available in the Healthy Indiana Plan,” Pence said in the letter.
The Healthy Indiana Plan is a health care plan for uninsured residents ages 19 to 64 that requires small monthly contributions from the user. It includes full health benefits such as hospital services, mental health care, physician services, prescriptions and ?diagnostic exams.
The plan decreases inappropriate trips to the emergency room, according to the HIP website. In 2012, 31 percent of participants visited ?the ER.
To be eligible for HIP, participants must earn less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level, which would be a single adult earning no more than $11,670 a year or families of four earning about $23,850. Individuals must also not be covered under Medicare or other minimum healthcare coverage.
Under HIP, there are no co-pays for services except for the non-emergency use of a hospital ER. For childless adults, the co-pay will not exceed $25, and parents or caretakers of children under 18 will owe no more than $3 for their co-pay.
Pence rejected the expansion of Medicaid in the state in February 2013, saying the program was flawed, according to a release from the state website.
“Medicaid is broken,” Pence said. “In Indiana, an expansion of traditional Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would cost our taxpayers upwards of $2 billion over the next seven years.”
He suggested HIP serve as a starting point for discussions of health reform in Indiana.
Rebecca Kimberly
