Government
Indiana program for uninsured sees healthy enrollment
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 25, 2008
Healthy Indiana, a program to help uninsured residents get health coverage, has received more than 23,000 applications in the six weeks since the program began accepting the forms on Jan. 1, according to Indiana Family and Social Services Administration spokeswoman Lauren Auld.
The program was expecting 4,000 applications a month. In response, the department doubled its staff from 45 to 91 to enable it to process 12,000 applications each month, up from 6,000, Auld said.
The program provides a type of health savings account of $1,100 per adult for residents earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level who have been uninsured for at least six months and do not have access to employer-sponsored insurance.
The maximum contribution from enrollees is 5%. About 375,000 Indiana residents are chronically uninsured and earn less than 200% of poverty. Healthy Indiana has enough funding to provide insurance to about 130,000 of them.
The account can be used to pay for physician office visits, prescription drugs, home health services, outpatient and inpatient hospital care, family planning and mental health care. There are no co-pays for care except for emergency department visits.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/02/25/gvbf0225.htm.
