Healthy Indiana Plan
Currently, I don’t have any health insurance. I think this is true for most of my peers, and for many low-income people, whether they’re low-income because of lifestyle and career choices, like me, or because they lack the economic mobility to obtain incomes that would allow for jobs that provide health coverage or with incomes that would allow the purchase of individual insurance.
Currently, I have access to some medical care through the Monroe County Volunteers in Medicine clinic, which offers free medical and dental care, similar to what you would receive from a family doctor or dentist to residents of Monroe County who are below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). This is certainly a good resource, but I’m not sure how far the care extends for advanced procedures, or in the event of some kind of emergency or catastrophic illness or injury.
Indiana recently introduced the Healthy Indiana Plan which is state-subsidized health insurance for low-income Indiana residents. Again, to qualify for this, one must be a legal Indiana resident, between 19 and 64, and make less than 200% of the FPLwhich amounts to:
| Family Size | Maximum Annual Income* | Approximate Maximum Monthly Income |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,400 | $1,700 |
| 2 | $27,360 | $2,280 |
| 3 | $34,320 | $2,860 |
| 4 | $41,280 | $3,440 |
| 5 | $48,240 | $4,020 |
The cost of this insurance will be between 2 and 5% of the gross family income for qualifying people, and according to the HIP website, the coverage includes:
physician services, prescriptions, diagnostic exams, home health services, outpatient hospital, inpatient hospital, hospice, preventive services, family planning, and case and disease management.Mental health coverage is also included and is similar to coverage for physical health, and includes substance abuse treatment, inpatient, outpatient, and prescription drugs.
The HIP coverage is 3-tiered and structured like this:
- A POWER Account valued at $1,100 per adult to pay for medical costs. Contributions to the account are made by the State and each participant (based on ability to pay). No participant will pay more than 5% of his/her gross family income on the plan.
- A basic commercial benefits package once annual medical costs exceed $1,100.
- Coverage for preventive services up to $500 a year at no cost to participants.
This seems very Republican (relative to some of the rhethoric I’ve heard in the news about different suggestions for health coverage policies) in it’s design because of the inclusion of the POWER Account (which I assume is what I’ve heard called a medical savings account) and because the plan seems to be administered by two private carriers: Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield and MDWise with AmeriChoice.
I believe that coverage will be limited to around 30,000 people (due to limitations on funding) and the plan will be funded by an increased tax on cigarette sales, but haven’t confirmed this in the actual release of the plan.
Of personal interest to me is the fact that it seems that much of the plan information is accessed and administered via the Internet. All plan participants must have an e-mail account (or will be given one if they do not) and both carriers list “Community Resource Centers” with internet access as part of their “Enhanced Services”. I think that more and more social services are using Internet technologies because they allow for cost savings. However, I fear that the costs of home Internet access (particularly for people with bad/no credit), unfamiliarity or discomfort with using Internet services, and the restrictions on access to public Internet resources like libraries or community resource centers (hours that the facilities are open may not match work schedules, no childcare options) may make the navigation of social services more alienating for their users.
In any case, I’m going to apply for the HIP and blog about my experiences.
Link to HIP home page
Link to summary of HIP
Tags: healthcare, HIP, indiana, insurance
February 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I am interested in following the progress on this persons HIP application. I have helped a friend submit an application. It was mailed around January 10th and still nothing has been heard from the people running the program. A phone call to them this week resulted in them saying “you will receive info by mail”. At the time of application this person did not have e-mail, she has since gotten an e-mail account. Anything happened with your application yet? Any news to report?
thanks
February 29th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I haven’t heard anything about my application either.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I sent my application in on Dec 17th, I sent everything that I could think of that they may want! Supporting documentation of all income, child support, tax statements, bank statements, all utilities…… everything!!
I did not hear from them for so long and tried to remain calm! As I have not had insurance since my divorce many years ago!
Finally on Feb 16th I received the good news - insurance for me for little of nothing per month! When I bought private insurance for myself it cost me 8 fold of what they will charge me for this.
I sent my first “POWER ACCOUNT” payment on Feb 16th, the check was cashed on Feb 26th…… I have not heard anything to this point about what is happening from here………… I am so excited and much relieved….. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be healthy in Indiana
March 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I personally feel like this a slap in the face to a lot of lower middle class hard working adults and also the elderly. While this may have been a very noble idea there are many unfair aspects. I currently am a family of 5 and do qualify on the high side of the scale but I basically work for insurance coverage for my family. My husbands company doesn’t have coverage so I took a job based solely on insurance coverage. I pay over $80 dollars a week for coverage that pays far less than this plan. So I am paying 3 times more than people making the same amount as we do with less coverage. I could easily quit and get a job without insurance aside from the fact that I have a chronic illness that costs way to much to self pay for 6 months. Also it underserves the elderly Part d members. They pay more than this and face a huge gap at the end of year and have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket. There has to be a better solution and I don’t believe this is it.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 am
Which is the better plan to apply for? Anthem HIP or MDWise HIP? I have found a lot of information about the Anthem HIP program but MDWise does not have any detailed information on their website about HIP.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Katie,
I found info at http://www.in.gov/fssa/files/MAXI542_IN_HIP-PlanChartDEC20.pdf
Personally, I chose MDWise because I had heard many bad things about Anthem in terms of people who were covered by it pre-HIP in Bloomington. Also, Anthem is currently involved in a lawsuit due to claims about how they offered virtually nonexistant coverage to many of their customers. I found an article about this at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/104511.php
June 26th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Katie,
An update. I went to a forum on problems related to the FSSA privatization of medicade and foodstamp benefits yesterday. One person from a large Indiana pediatric care provider said that they were discouraging parents from using MDWise because the pediatric care provider hadn’t gotten payed correctly by MDWise in a year. The rep said that from a provider standpoint, they have a much better relationship with Anthem. The person was talking about Medicade and not HIP, but I just thought I’d share this perspective. I don’t know what it means for HIP users and for healthcare consumers instead of providers. It seems that, once again, none of the options are great.
Good luck,
Geoff
July 15th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I have been disabled with a chronic illness and unable to work full-time. I have desparately needed a medication for this illness, but the medication is extremely expensive. The company offering the medication cancelled their “patient assistance program”, which left me with no medication and even more disabled. If a person in my position tries to apply for disability, I would be told that “I am refusing to take my medication, so case denied.” with no regard to the fact that I can’t afford the medication.
I am currently enrolled in Anthem’s Healthy Indiana Plan, and it has been a GodSend. I am now able to take my medication. I’m still not able to work full-time, but my suffering is less.
But, the plan isn’t perfect. I need to see a gastroenterogist, but there isn’t one covered under this plan within a 60 mile radius from where I live. With gas as high as it is and a very low income, this isn’t good. But I have faith that with time, this will improve. This is only the first year for this program.
I encourage people who need this, to apply. It took a long time, but finally they responded and I now have health insurance.
Best Wishes,
NeededInsurance