Indiana Governor Mike Pence Takes Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare
Accepting the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare is a no brainer. Indiana governor Mike Pence was one of the Republican governors that attempted to find every excuse possible to deny their citizens healthcare coverage. This was done simply for ideological reasons as oppose to fiscal reasons.
The Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare is fully paid for by the federal government for the first three years. Thereafter, it costs the states only 10 percent of the cost. Moreover the fact that the federal government is paying for it mean that taxpaying citizens of Indiana are paying for the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare whether they accept the program or not. As such it is fiscally irresponsible not to do so. It is state sanctioned theft of the citizen’s resources.
According to the Post-Tribune,
As a result of not expanding Medicaid in 2014, Indiana loses out financially. A study by Indiana Hospital Association predicted that the state could see $3.4 billion in economic activity and more than 30,000 jobs created by 2020.
State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, who authored the Healthy Indiana Plan, said he believes much of the opposition is political.
“I can’t think of another reason why (Pence) wouldn’t want to expand it,” Brown said. “And we’re costing ourselves more money by delaying it as evidenced by (Thursday’s) announcement by the state insurance commissioner that the state would extend its high-risk pool until Jan. 31. We just keep creating more problems for ourselves.”
It seems as if Mike Pence has gotten the message. It seems Mike Pence has found a face saving way to help the citizens of Indiana by providing the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare through the Healthy Indiana Plan, The Mike Pence proposal is as follows.
Pence will lift HIP enrollment caps, opening up the program to working-age adults earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($16,105 for an individual or $32,913 for a family of four). Between 334,000 and 598,000 people will be covered under the plan, according to Pence’s office. Enrollment will open in 2015, with federal approval.
The existing HIP program, which only covered people under the federal poverty level, required enrollees to contribute to the first $1,100 of their care. Under the expanded program, there will be two levels of coverage.
- HIP Members under the poverty level have the option to make monthly contributions. If they don’t, they’ll be transferred to a more basic level of coverage without vision and dental benefits. The lower coverage level requires co-payments for services, instead of monthly premiums. There are no co-pays, though, for preventive care and family planning services.
- HIP members above the poverty level who don’t pay a monthly contribution within 60 days are locked out of the program for six months. They can’t opt into the basic coverage level.
Hopefully it is a matter of time before all of the Republican governors accept the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare. For the sake of every American they must. Their intransigence has harmed enough.
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