State Seeks Three-Year Renewal Of HIP 2.0

Indiana announced it wants the federal government to renew HIP 2.0, the state’s Medicaid expansion program, for three years.

Indiana received a waiver in 2015 to create its own version of Medicaid expansion, HIP 2.0. The program requires people to make monthly contributions to health savings accounts, known as POWER accounts. The current waiver expires a year from now; the state wants to extend that through January 2021.

Indiana also wants to expand the incentives it offers through HIP 2.0. If recipients, for instance, participate in a disease management program or lose a certain amount of weight, they’d receive financial incentives. The state’s renewal application says it wants to increase those incentives up to a maximum of $200 per initiative.

The state also wants to crack down on smoking and seeks federal approval to charge higher premiums to smokers on HIP 2.0. Proposed changes also include more financial incentives for those who participate and complete smoking cessation programs.

The state’s renewal request comes as the program’s future is in question due to the potential repeal of the federal Affordable Care Act. The ACA primarily pays for the program.