Pence announces alternative to ACA

Governor Mike Pence proposed an expansion of the Healthy Indiana Plan, which would provide health care to thousands of uninsured Indiana citizens.

Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 is the governor’s alternative to the Affordable Care Act, which was introduced by the Obama administration and became effective this past year.

The proposal is required to be available for public comment for 30 days before it’s submitted to the federal government for approval.

While expanding Medicaid under the ACA is optional for states, 26 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to expand.

Critics of the proposed plan say it’s too similar to the ACA, saying it’s technically still accessing billions of federal dollars through Medicaid.

However, Pence has made it clear that, unlike the Obama administration, he wishes to change Medicaid, not expand it.

“Nobly created 50 years ago to help the poor and those with disabilities access quality health care, Medicaid has morphed into a bureaucratic and fiscal monstrosity that does less to help low-income people than its advocates claim,” Pence said in his remarks.

He said HIP 2.0 would be more consumer-driven, private-market based and cost conscious than the ACA.

It would include incentives for people to pull themselves out of poverty, he said, including job training programs.

“It is a safety net program that aligns incentives with human aspirations,” he said. “The plan also includes high co-pays for inappropriate ER usage to encourage enrollees to use primary care rather than ER care to manage non-emergent health needs,” he said.

The three-pronged program is for those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Sarah Zinn