Letter to Barack Obama, President of the United States - Requesting Meeting to Discuss Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0

Letter

October 2, 2014

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As you prepare to visit Indiana tomorrow, I am writing to call your personal attention to a matter that is of great importance to people across our state. The State of Indiana has an application pending with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP). I respectfully ask for your support in achieving a timely approval of our effort to provide meaningful coverage for approximately 350,000 currently uninsured Hoosiers through an expansion of this proven plan that we call HIP 2.0.

The proposal we have before HHS is not based on an untested idea, but a program that has already achieved results for on average 45,000-50,000 individuals annually since 2008. Your administration has approved the continuation of the Healthy Indiana Plan on two occasions already and is very familiar with the program. We are now simply asking to expand coverage for more uninsured in our state the Indiana way.

Since its inception, the Healthy Indiana Plan has empowered its members to take greater personal ownership over their health care decisions and become more cost-conscious consumers of health care services. Its innovative design has led to greater patient engagement with health providers, higher utilization of preventative care services, and lower emergency department usage.

The Healthy Indiana Plan is a true success story and enjoys broad support in our state. Crafted with bipartisan support in the Indiana General Assembly, the Healthy Indiana Plan continues to be lauded by a diverse group of stakeholders including providers, coverage advocates, and legislators.

The Healthy Indiana Plan also is highly popular among those enrolled in the program, with member satisfaction rates of more than 95 percent. During your time in our state, I encourage you to talk with Hoosiers about their impressions or personal experiences with the Healthy Indiana Plan.

You have previously challenged leaders to set forth "specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, and increase choice" in our health care system, and that is precisely what expanding the Healthy Indiana Plan will do for our citizens. Since taking office in January 2013, my administration has worked diligently to determine whether the Healthy Indiana Plan could be used to cover more Hoosiers.

The HIP 2.0 waiver currently before your administration has been carefully crafted by the State of Indiana to preserve the Healthy Indiana Plan's core principles, while providing new choices to Hoosiers.

As you are aware, from the outset of my administration I have made it clear that Indiana will not expand traditional Medicaid. The Healthy Indiana Plan is a better program than traditional Medicaid, and I cannot in good conscience relegate more Hoosiers to traditional Medicaid when a better and more effective alternative is available in the Healthy Indiana Plan.

I have been made aware that issues have arisen in my administration's ongoing discussion with HHS that threaten to compromise the Healthy Indiana Plan's effectiveness. Our administration will not support efforts to remove or water down the Healthy Indiana Plan's core principles, essentially changing this proven program into an expansion of traditional Medicaid. I will be traveling to Washington, D.C., next week to meet again with Secretary Burwell to make clear our expectation that the State of Indiana must retain the necessary flexibility to support any expansion of the Healthy Indiana Plan through HIP 2.0.

The Healthy Indiana Plan operates today under a one-year waiver set to end on December 31, 2014. With so many Hoosiers actively awaiting the outcome of our HIP 2.0 application, it is imperative that we achieve timely approval of our waiver application.

To that end, I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you briefly on this important matter upon your arrival in Indiana, or at your earliest convenience. For the sake of low-income families in my state, I will continue to work in good faith with your administration to expand access to the Healthy Indiana Plan.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Pence
Governor of Indiana

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