INDIANAPOLIS — Democratic leaders are worried that Gov. Mike Pence’s handling of decisions about expanding Indiana’s Medicaid program could prevent legislators from addressing the issue before this year’s General Assembly session ends April 29.
The new Republican governor is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for permission for the state to cover 400,000 more Hoosiers through its own health savings account-based insurance plan, dubbed the Healthy Indiana Plan, rather than traditional Medicaid.
But federal officials notified the state on Feb. 25 that its application to do that was incomplete because Indiana had not allowed for a 30-day comment period.
That prompted Pence to say Thursday that what the state submitted was only an “advance copy” and that a final version will be sent in after public hearings scheduled for March 20 and March 22 in the state government complex in Indianapolis.
Still, Democrats pointed out that waiting for the state to complete its public comment period, and then waiting for the federal government to hold a 30-day comment period of its own, means a decision wouldn’t come until late April at the earliest.
As a result, it would be next to impossible for lawmakers to know how the federal government will rule on Indiana’s application before this year’s four-month legislative session wraps up on April 29.
House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, and Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, told Pence in a letter that they are concerned legislators won’t have a voice in the state’s ultimate decision.
“This time frame makes the possibility of receiving a federal determination on the plan unlikely to occur before the end of the current legislative session,” the Democrats wrote.
“We have considerable concerns as to whether this will hamper the state’s ability to inject billions of dollars of federal funds into Indiana’s economy, create tens of thousands of jobs and give hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers a plan to receive affordable health care services.”
The two raised the prospect of a special session, as well.
“If a solution is not met by the conclusion of the 2013 legislative session, is it your plan to call for a special session to address this matter?” the two Democratic leaders asked.
Pence did not respond directly. Instead, he said in a letter to those legislative leaders on Thursday that the state should wait for the federal government to take action before discussing what would come next.
“The Indiana General Assembly has instructed us to see our Healthy Indiana Plan waiver application through, and we fully intend to do so,” Pence wrote. “For this reason, it is premature to discuss any particular legislative or administrative approach until we receive a definitive response from HHS.”
Pence, meanwhile, wrote that Indiana has made no mistakes and that the state has been asking federal officials whether it could use the Healthy Indiana Plan as the vehicle for a Medicaid expansion for two years.
“The Feb. 25, 2013 letter from HHS does not indicate in any way that the waiver application process has been jeopardized. It does, however, speak to the flawed bureaucratic process that has impeded progress on our successful Healthy Indiana Plan,” Pence wrote.
“As you know, the issues we have brought to HHS in our most recent waiver application have been on the table for over two years now. To this date, we have not received a definitive answer from HHS as to whether Indiana can expand our innovative Healthy Indiana Plan.”