Health Care Advocates, Insurers Praise Indiana's HIP 2.0

Indianapolis -- It’s been nearly six months since HIP 2.0 was approved, and the state has enrolled hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers in the health insurance program.  More than a dozen health care advocacy groups and insurers sang the praises of the program at a public forum Thursday.

As of July 1, more than 289,000 Hoosiers have signed up for health care coverage through HIP 2.0.  One hundred eighty-six thousand of them never had health insurance before.  And 70 percent of enrollees are using HIP Plus, which requires contributions to a health savings account. 

Indiana Minority Health Coalition Vice President Carl Ellison says he’s been impressed with HIP 2.0’s rollout. He didn’t think the state could get the program up and running so soon after it received federal approval.

“A lot of us didn’t think that you could take a complex program, educate people on it and get them to do the things they need to do, and do it in a smooth, transparent, well-done way…but that, in fact, has happened,” Ellison said.

The public forum wasn’t entirely about kudos, though.  Ellison notes the state needs to ensure there are enough Spanish-speaking navigators who can guide people through the process of securing insurance.  And Covering Kids and Families policy director Caitlin Priest says future enrollees will likely need more in-person assistance.

“Which we fear may be harder to access in areas of the state not covered by our coalitions or with a more robust navigator bench,” Priest said.

The state expects to add at least another 60,000 Hoosiers to the program by year’s end.