FROM INDIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING

A recent federal ruling vacated the 2020 approval of the Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP (hip). The lawsuit challenged several policies within HIP that threaten Medicaid coverage and access.

The lawsuit filed against the federal government centered on several policies that were implemented under what’s known as a Section 11-15 Waiver. These waivers allow states to include policies that deviate from Medicaid law as long as they further the objectives of the Medicaid Act. The ruling says the most recent approval of HIP failed to consider how some of Indiana’s 11-15 waivers would impact Medicaid coverage for Hoosiers.

Adam Mueller is the Executive Director of the Indiana Justice Project.   While this lawsuit criticizes some applications of the Section 11-15 waiver, he says states can use them to expand coverage. “It’s important to say, look, ‘You want to be innovative. There are opportunities to do that.’ There are opportunities to say, ‘What can we do to improve health care, improve health coverage?’ And that’s something we ought to be thinking about.”

Mueller says some states have used these waivers to address disparities that may not fall into the Medicaid program, such as housing insecurity. He says it may benefit Hoosiers to explore what that could look like in the future.