State Leaders Face Uncertain Future For Health Care Funding

With some federal lawmakers aiming to repeal the Affordable Care Act, state legislative leaders say the future of Indiana’s health care program, HIP 2.0, is uncertain.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) visited the Statehouse last week. And State House Speaker Brian Bosma says one of the things Young talked about was federal health care reform.

That could include eliminating Medicaid expansion, which pays for Indiana’s HIP 2.0 program. But Bosma says he doesn’t anticipate any impact on the two-year budget lawmakers are currently writing.

“And that’s why there’s no provision in the current budget for a change in that percentage during the current biennium,” Bosma says.

And Senate GOP Leader David Long agrees federal changes are unlikely to affect the upcoming state budget.

But he also says, if there are changes to future federal funding for HIP 2.0, it will force the state to reevaluate its health care program.

“The number of people in the program – that could be affected. We really don’t know what we’re facing right now,” Long says. “And that’s the biggest issue and the biggest concern – how affordable is it if you block-grant things back to the states.”

The federal government provides about $5 billion for HIP 2.0 in each two-year budget cycle.