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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA new report shows the federal health care overhaul will cost Indiana $3.6 billion over the next decade.
The report released Wednesday from actuarial consulting firm Milliman Inc. was done on behalf of the state Family and Social Services Agency. A previous Milliman report said that Indiana would see costs rise $2.3 billion over the next 10 years, but the updated report takes into account final changes to the health care legislation.
Such estimates have been criticized in the past. A liberal think tank said Indiana and other states are exaggerating their costs for expanding Medicaid.
Indiana's State Budget Committee is taking up the fiscal impact that the national health care overhaul will have on Indiana. It met at the Statehouse on Wednesday to discuss the report.
The most immediate cost to state finances will be $20 million to $25 million in the fiscal year beginning in July as the federal government grabs a larger share of the pharmaceuetical rebates required of drugmakers in the federal-state Medicaid program.
The loss of those savings will cost the Indiana $300 million by 2020, according to testimony given Wednesday by Robert Damler, an principal and consulting actuary at MIlliman.
Committee Chairman Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said it's "vital" for state officials to get a handle on the fiscal impact of the health care changes as they begin the early stages of putting together the next two-year state budget.
The bipartisan panel also is set to review the state's efforts to fix problems with its privatized, automated welfare intake system and the status of a jobs program.
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