Lawmakers, providers and patients spar over proposed changes to Healthy Indiana Plan; committee moves bill

The House Public Health Committee on Feb. 16 advanced Senate Bill 2, a wide-ranging bill that would move the state's Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) expansion out of a state-plan amendment and into a waiver, add verification and reporting requirements for eligibility, create limited work or community-engagement requirements for some able-bodied adults, and restrict marketing of Medicaid enrollment by entities that financially benefit from the program.

Senator Brent Mischer, the bill sponsor, told the committee that the change to a waiver is intended to give the state more flexibility if federal matching rates change. "The plan was originally set up as a state-plan amendment," he said, noting HIP's growth from roughly 40,000 people in 2006 to more than 700,000 today. He said the goal is "right-sizing" the program so people are in the most appropriate coverage and to address fiscal pressures as Medicaid spending has grown.

The bill would require more routine cross-checks of enrollee information to detect eligibility changes, authorize FSSA to share data with other agencies for redeterminations, and require reporting on improper payments and…