HHS Approves Medicaid Waiver For Low-Income Indiana Residents To Use Health Savings Accounts

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 18 Dec 2007 - 5:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

HHS on Friday announced the approval of a Medicaid waiver in Indiana that will permit the state to enroll low-income residents in a state-subsidized, high-deductible health care that includes provisions similar to health savings accounts, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 12/14). To qualify, residents' incomes must be less than 200% of the federal poverty level, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

Beneficiaries will make payments to the Personal Wellness and Responsibility account based on an incremental scale, with contributions not exceeding 5% of the family's income. The account will cover up to $1,100 of their medical expenses. Once residents reach that deductible, private insurance purchased by the state will take effect (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/15). Health benefits covered under the program include physician consultation, prescription drugs, home health services, in-patient and out-patient care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and preventive services. Unused funds in the account can carry over to offset the following year's contributions if the beneficiary has obtained age-appropriate preventive health care services, according to CQ HealthBeat.

Comments
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in a statement endorsed the program, saying that it is "critical that every state in this nation be thinking of creative new ways to help residents gain access to health care, and, at the same time, working to make those ideas become reality" (CQ HealthBeat, 12/14). Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) said, "This is a big step forward that will lead to approximately 120,000 uninsured Hoosiers having the peace of mind of health insurance" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/15).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations