Obamacare in Indiana

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Obamacare-enrollment is a site where you can find detailed information on the Affordable Care Act

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Health Insurance Marketplace in Indiana

If you live in Indiana, you’ll use this website, HealthCare.gov, to apply for coverage, compare plans, and enroll. Spanish language speakers can contact cuidadodesalud.gov. Specific plans and prices will be available on October 1, 2013, when Marketplace open enrollment begins. Coverage can start as soon as January 1, 2014.

The Insurance Exchange/Marketplace

What has been done, not been done, or left up to the federal government to do.

Establishing the Exchange in Indiana

In November 2012, Governor-elect Mike Pence (R) announced that he would not move forward with setting up a state-based health insurance exchange when he takes office in 2013.1

During his term, Governor Mitch Daniels (R) had signed Executive Order #11-01 in 2011 to conditionally establish and operate the Indiana Insurance Market, Inc., a nonprofit corporation to serve as the Indiana health insurance exchange.2 The Executive Order defined Indiana’s exchange as a nonprofit incorporated by the Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, working with the Indiana Department of Insurance. An interagency group including, the Department of Insurance, the Family and Social Services Administration, and the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning, worked on exchange planning in the state. However, since issuing the Executive Order, Indiana began to move away from a state-based exchange.3 While the state had assembled two pieces of draft exchange legislation, the Department of Insurance did not propose either during the 2012 legislative session, which ended in March 2012.4

On May 5, 2011, Governor Daniels signed HB 1210, which prohibits qualified health plans purchased through an exchange in Indiana from covering abortions, except in the case of rape, incest, or to avert impairment or death of the pregnant woman.5

Essential Health Benefits (EHB): The ACA requires that all non-grandfathered individual and small-group plans sold in a state, including those offered through the Exchange, cover certain defined health benefits. Since Indiana has not put forward a recommendation, the state’s benchmark EHB plan will default to the largest small-group plan in the state, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska- Blue Access PPO.

Exchange Funding

In May 2011, Indiana was among the first three states to be awarded a federal Level One Establishment grant.6 The Indiana Department of Insurance and Family and Social Services Administration received of $6.9 million to update their information technology systems, develop a financial management plan, and acquire legal, actuarial, and financial expertise.7 The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration also received a federal Exchange Planning grant of $1 million in September 2010.

Expansion of Medicaid

From 2014 to 2017, the federal government will pay for 100% of the difference between a state’s current Medicaid eligibility level and the ACA minimum. Federal contributions to the expansion will drop to 95% in 2017 and remain at 90% after 2020, according to the ACA.

As the ACA was originally written, states would lose all Medicaid funding if they refused to expand their program to the ACA minimum.

However, the Supreme Court in June 2012 ruled that the federal government could not withhold Medicaid funding for states that chose not to expand their programs. The decision effectively allowed state officials to opt out of the expansion, and some have said they will do just that.

Indiana has proposed to the federal government that they will cover low-income residents with the Healthy Indiana Plan.

Next Steps

The federal government will assume full responsibility for running a health insurance exchange in Indiana beginning in 2014.

Additional resources related to Indiana’s exchange planning can be found at:http://www.nationalhealthcare.in.gov

1. Gov-Elect Pence: Indiana Should Not Establish State-based health insurance exchange. November 15, 2012. http://www.mikepence.com/exchange
2. Indiana Executive Order #11-01. January 2, 2011.http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Executive%20orders/EO_11-01.pdf
3. State of Indiana Letter to CMS. Comment on State Exchange Plan Application. January 10, 2012. http://www.in.gov/aca/files/Indiana_Exchange_Certification_Application_Comments.pdf
4. Level One Establishment Grant Quarter 1 Report. 10/30/2011.http://www.in.gov/aca/files/HIX_Level_One_Quarterly_Report.pdf
5. HB 1210 (Chapter 33). Indiana’s 2011 act related to Health Care Exchanges and Abortion.http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2011/HE/HE1210.1.html
6. Indiana Health Insurance Exchange Level One Funding Solicitation.http://www.statecoverage.org/files/IN_InsuranceMarketGrantITGAPSummary_2011.pdf
7. HealthCare.gov. “Creating a New Competitive Marketplace: Affordable Insurance Exchange Establishment Grant Awards List.” August 12, 2011.http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/exchanges05232011a.html

Also of interest

Who can help you (the Navigators)

Get local help

Affiliated Service Providers of Indiana, Inc.

Affiliated Service Providers of Indiana, Inc., based in Terra Haute, Indiana, is collaborating with community mental health centers and Ivy Tech Community College to develop a navigator workforce consisting of veterans, certified recovery specialists, and Ivy Tech Community College students to reach out to and educate individuals, families and small businesses on the Health Marketplaces and help them select and enroll in qualified health plans.

Plus One Enterprises ,LTD, LLC

Plus One Enterprises, LTD, LLC is a woman-owned, black-owned, small business based in Anderson, IN and Madison County (east central Indiana). Plus One Enterprises will help individuals and employers in Delaware and Madison Counties, focusing on people who are under and uninsured, facilitating enrollments in qualified health plans and the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), and reaching out to small employers.

765-356-3348

toll free – 855-758-7166

contact: Deborah Hester.

Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC), part of the Indiana state government, operates the Marion County Public Health Department and Wishard Health Services—a patient-centered healthcare system for the uninsured and underinsured residents. HHC will hire and train staff to assist clients and implement an extensive education and media campaign to promote the Federally Facilitated Exchange.

United Way Worldwide

United Way Worldwide, working with local United Ways and 2-1-1—the free, three-digit dialing code for health and human services—information, referral, and assistance service centers will work to provide access to health insurance to individuals, households, workers, and outreach to employers in Indiana.

Who you can contact for more help

 Information for:

Individuals and Families

Small businesses

If you need more detailed analysis, identification of issues, solutions, and implementation of your health insurance plan please let us know at obamacare-enrollment.com and we’ll get right back to you.

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