Braun administration takes aim at Medicaid INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Critics say Gov. Mike Braun’s steps to get a handle on Indiana’s ballooning Medicaid budget limits information for potential clients while increasing regulations for current enrollees.  Medicaid is publicly-funded health insurance for people with low incomes.  More than 1 in 4 people in Indiana, nearly two million Hoosiers, rely on some form of Medicaid. Indiana has struggled to handle Medicaid finances, leading to a $1 billion shortfall in 2023. While the federal government pays for about two-thirds of Indiana’s total Medicaid budget, some worry Congress could cut funding.  The Braun-appointed Secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration Mitch Roob has: Ordered health plan providers to stop advertising Medicaid programs on television and radio. Increased Medicaid eligibility checks from once a year to once a quarter. Promised to “further constrain Medicaid eligibility.” Consulting firm Miller Kaplan estimates the advertising directive could cost Indiana businesses millions this year alone. Health advocates worry the new directives will cause more people to go uninsured, leading to higher health care costs. State Rep. Ed Delaney (D-Indianapolis) questioned whether the Braun administration’s decision to stop advertisements is an attempt to keep people uninformed about their benefits, describing it as “trying to shrink the pool [of recipients] by shrinking information.” On Wednesday, Gov. Braun signed an executive order directing the FSSA to audit Medicaid expenditures “to root out inefficiencies and misuse of taxpayer dollars.” When asked about the steps taken on Medicaid, Braun called it “a broken program.” saying Congress needs to “do a better job at running it as opposed to inviting more people to come onto it.” Braun’s Chief of Staff Josh Kelley claimed there’s no attempt to reduce the number of people enrolled in Medicaid. Roob has also said he would endorse SB2, which would add a 20-hour work requirement to enroll in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), cap coverage to 36 months, and limit enrollment “to the amount sustained by the appropriation or 500,000.” HIP enrollment is currently forecast to total more than 700,000 Hoosiers in FY 2026.**Information to apply for Medicaid coverage can be found HERE**