On Monday, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the state’s waiver for its Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). This allows for continued health coverage for more than 572,000 low-income adult Hoosiers.
The plan was approved for 10 more years, which is somewhat unusual given the waiver to renew HIP is typically three to four years in duration. In fact, this is the first time CMS has approved a state’s Medicaid waiver for a comprehensive health benefits program for a period of 10 years.
Additionally, the approval from CMS grants five-year extensions of some of the newer components of the HIP program that have provided treatment for substance use disorder and serious mental illness for 88,000 Hoosiers across all Medicaid programs.
HIP was created in 2007 during the Daniels administration and expanded in 2015, after the Affordable Care Act, by then-Gov. Mike Pence with a federal waiver to cover any eligible adult as an alternative to traditional Medicaid expansion.
Resource: Mike Ripley at (317) 264-6883 or email: mripley@indianachamber.com
