MEDICAID IS BIG
Medicaid is the largest public health insurance program in terms of the number of Americans covered.
- Medicaid enrollment grew by 12 million people after the Affordable Care Act enabled states to expand coverage to people earning up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
- In Feb. 2024, Medicaid, including the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), covered over 76 million people.
MEDICAID IS COMPLICATED
Medicaid, which includes CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program), is a complicated set of health plans that vary across states.
- In Indiana, Medicaid provides coverage through HIP (Healthy Indiana Plan), Hoosier Healthwise, Hoosier Care Connect, Traditional Medicaid, and other smaller plans.
- This complexity makes it harder for eligible Hoosiers to get, use, and keep their Medicaid coverage.
MEDICAID CHANGED DURING THE COVID PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
As the COVID-19 pandemic set in, Congress allocated extra federal funding to states that agreed to keep Medicaid beneficiaries continuously enrolled. Normally, people must prove their Medicaid eligibility each year as well as after any changes to their income, employment, or household size.
- Starting in April 2020, Indiana not only kept Medicaid members continuously enrolled, but also suspended the premiums and co-payments that members pay for HIP, which provides coverage to low-income adults aged 19 to 64.
- Total HIP enrollment nearly doubled as of April 2023 to over 815,000 people.
NAVIGATING HIP UNDER "NORMAL" RULES
In April 2023, Indiana began the process of requiring all Medicaid beneficiaries to renew their eligibility. Indiana was set to re-start POWER Account contributions on July 1, 2024, but federal judge ruled that these monthly POWER premiums cannot return.
Based on previous research, we know that many people struggled to navigate the POWER Accounts (for our 2019 Study of HIP, see If You Want to Know More).
With community partners, our team developed a series of brochures and slide presentations to explain the HIP program clearly and visually (see How You Can Act).
- Our goal was to recommend HIP Plus as the best option for eligible members because it covers vision and dental care in addition to medical care and medications.
- HIP Plus avoids the co-payments required for each medical service and medication under the less generous HIP Basic plan. Based on the recent federal ruling, the HIP Basic plan would cease to operate.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration has a website with updated information about how Medicaid enrollees and their supporters can prepare to navigate the return to normal rules:
The All Hands on Deck Medicaid Coalition created a Community Toolkit of resources to share simple steps that Medicaid enrollees and their supporters can take to ensure all eligible people retain their coverage:
http://www.ckfindiana.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CKF-Medicaid-Toolkit-rev2-2.24.23.pdf