Indiana Senate approves Medicaid expansion
The Indiana Senate voted Tuesday to expand Medicaid using a state-run program, as lawmakers and Gov. Mike Pence continue negotiating how the state should cover an estimated 400,000 low-income residents.
The Indiana Senate voted Tuesday to expand Medicaid using a state-run program, as lawmakers and Gov. Mike Pence continue negotiating how the state should cover an estimated 400,000 low-income residents.
The actuarial firm hired by the state estimates savings of about $156 million per year if Indiana uses its Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage.
The cost of health care for an additional 400,000 low income residents is something nobody in the Indiana Statehouse seems to be able to agree upon this year, even as the crucial decision about whether to expand Medicaid bears down on lawmakers midway through their annual session.
Decisions by other Republican governors to support Medicaid expansion is increasing pressure on Indiana’s governor to do the same.
Gov. Mike Pence is battling with House lawmakers over expanding health care coverage for roughly 400,000 Indiana residents, amid concerns that the state's health care program for the poor won't be able to handle the flood of new enrollees.
A federal audit released Friday recommends Indiana's human services agency refund more than $5.8 million in Medicaid funds because Logansport State Hospital did not show it had complied with special conditions for psychiatric hospitals.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is asking the federal government to approve a three-year extension of the Healthy Indiana Plan health savings accounts in lieu of an expansion of a federal Medicaid system he calls "broken."
The Indiana Senate Public Health Committee is advancing a proposal to expand Medicaid using the state's health savings account plan.
Up until now, Gov. Mike Pence and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature have been playing a game of poker with the Obama administration over a potential expansion of Indiana’s Medicaid program. But all of a sudden, Indiana’s hand just got quite a bit weaker.
Democratic leaders in the Indiana General Assembly are seeking expanded Medicaid coverage with the argument that it will lower health care costs statewide.
Gov. Mike Pence said Wednesday that he has ruled out expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law unless Indiana gets approval to use state health savings accounts for the expansion.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to a waiver that would allow the state to continue the program unchanged for a year.
Catamaran Corp. will add 50 jobs in Indianapolis over the next year to help it provide pharmacy-benefit-management services to the Indiana Medicaid program. The Illinois-based company will open an office downtown Tuesday to kick off its six-year, $60 million contract with the state.
Carmel-based ABC Homecare LLC closed last week after state and federal authorities cut off its access to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement due to deficiencies cited by the Indiana State Department of Health.
A new set of projections released Monday estimates that expanding Medicaid coverage as called for in President Obama’s 2010 health reform law would cost the state government less than $54 million per year on average over the next decade—far lower than projections issued by the actuarial firm hired by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration.
IU Health and Community enjoyed net gains of $267 million and $23 million, respectively, from the hospital assessment fee program during the fiscal year ended June 30.
Many Indiana Republicans want to use the Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in Indiana to more low-income adults. But the program—which offers health insurance based on health savings accounts to uninsured adults—has managed to attract just one-third of the Hoosiers it was designed for and has cost about twice as much per enrollee as predicted.
It would be “absurd” and a “travesty” for Indiana not to expand its Medicaid program, according to two local hospital officials. And yet other health care leaders do not expect expanded Medicaid coverage to provide nearly as much help to uninsured Hoosiers as hoped.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a preliminary injunction that blocked the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration from enforcing a $1,000 annual limit on dental coverage. The agency had established it as a cost-cutting measure in 2011.
If Indiana expands its Medicaid program as called for under President Obama’s health reform law, it likely will hike state spending on the program an extra 13.5 percent—or $516 million annually—by 2020, according to the latest projections from Seattle-based actuarial firm Milliman Inc.