July 18, 2011: State officials in Indiana have opened up 8,000 slots for childless adults in the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), the state’s health insurance plan for the working poor.
To be eligible for HIP, applicants must earn less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), must not have access to employer-sponsored coverage, and must have been uninsured for the six months prior to application. Priority for new enrollment will be given to Indiana residents already on the HIP waitlist.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels froze HIP enrollment in March 2010 in response to the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act, which will move HIP enrollees into Medicaid and the Exchange in 2014 unless the state establishes a Basic Health Plan. However, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) says it is now able to open these slots due to attrition.