Lawmakers Believe it will be Easier for People to be off Medicaid
STATEHOUSE — You might’ve read or heard this week about the group Hoosier Action and their criticism of a bill being considered by lawmakers that they believe will make it easier to kick people off of Medicaid or the Healthy Indiana Plan. That bill (SB2) is actually a way to make sure Medicaid stay solvent, say state lawmakers who support it.
“The spend in this space is unsustainable, Under current situations, knowing things change all the time, but the slope of the line in the spend is such, we want this to be a sustainable program so that the people that need services, deserve services, qualify for services, match up with those that are getting the services,” said Dr. Brad Barrett, a Republican state representative from Richmond, who is chair of the House Public Health Committee.
He spoke on the bill at a Wednesday meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee.
He acknowledged that there will be more eligibility checks. But, he said those are designed to make sure the people who are on Medicaid are truly qualified.
Barrett said for some people staying on Medicaid will be easier because some of the barriers have been removed. Specifically that applies to children and some women.
“The churn has been removed. Churning is when you’re checking eligibility. They’re on the program, they’re off the program as income varies. This body removed the churn,” he said. “When a child qualifies for Medicaid, up until the age of 18, they qualify for that year.”
He said it should also be easier for women who have recently given birth to stay on the program.
“We also extended the coverage for women that are postpartum. I think it was initially 90 days and that has been extended to one year.”
Though the criticism that was brought to the Statehouse Tuesday credited possible federal cuts with being a threat to Indiana’s Medicaid program, Barrett said the threat to its sustainability comes from within, and having too many unqualified people on the program unchecked could eventually wreck its finances.
