Bill adds work requirements for Healthy Indiana Plan INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Users of the Healthy Indiana Plan told lawmakers Tuesday adding work requirements and other restrictions would cause more problems than it would solve. More than 700,000 Hoosiers are enrolled in the Healthy Indiana P lan (HIP), a Medicaid program for able-bodied adults without children. That’s up from roughly 390,000 immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, has long said the growth of that program means Medicaid could overtake K-12 education as Indiana’s largest education expense in the near future. He repeated those warnings on Tuesday. Central to Mishler’s concerns is the way the federal government funds Medicaid. Currently, the federal government picks up 90% of Indiana’s tab while the state covers the rest through its cigarette tax and hospital assessment fees. Mishler said the new Trump administration could significantly reduce the federal government’s contribution. Further complicating matters is a recent court ruling that restricts the Family and Social Services Administration’s ability to change the program on its own. “If the federal was to change that match, we’re stuck. We can’t make any changes to the program because of that state plan amendment,” Mishler said. Mishler’s proposal would impose work requirements for HIP users. They would have to work, volunteer, or be enrolled in a work program for at least 20 hours per week, or do any combination of the three. The bill includes exceptions for parents of children under age six, parents of dependent children with disabilities or serious medical conditions, people receiving unemployment benefits or enrolled in a substance abuse treatment program, and people who have been certified as physically or mentally unfit for work. In addition, his bill requires the FSSA to review HIP users’ eligibility quarterly rather than once a year. The bill also would have capped the number of HIP users at 500,000, but the House Public Health Committee removed that language Tuesday morning. Current and former HIP users said in their experience, the Family and Social Services Administration often removes people from its rolls even if they remain eligible. Leah McMichael said when she was on HIP, she was often listed as receiving income from jobs she no longer had. Eliza Brader said her 15 hours per week of public service work under a federal work-study program and status as a full-time student were rejected and she lost HIP coverage before it was later restored. Both McMichael and Brader said they are able to work today because they were able to get serious chronic conditions treated under the HIP program, with Brader requiring surgery for a life-threatening spinal cord injury. Both women said the combination of stricter work requirements and more frequent compliance checks means more chances for eligible people to be mistakenly removed from the Medicaid rolls. “Clearly, we are not all able-bodied,” Brader said. “And based on the fact that I can support myself, I probably am on the correct program for me.” The bill has already passed the Senate and is the second priority for Senate Republicans after the property tax relief plan. It advanced out of the House Public Health Committee on a party-line vote. Because the bill affects a budget item, it has to go through the House Ways and Means Committee before it reaches the House floor. Committee chair Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond, said further amendments are possible there. Mishler’s bill also would prohibit any form of Medicaid advertising. Barrett said lawmakers are considering an amendment that would exempt public service announcements from that provision. ...read more read less