Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today spoke before the Indiana Minority Health Coalition at their Annual Luncheon at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis and celebrated Indiana’s health care successes. This year, the Indiana General Assembly passed and the Governor subsequently signed Senate Enrolled Act 165 to codify the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0 into law, ensuring more than 370,000 Hoosiers have access to affordable and quality health care in a program based on personal responsibility and empowering people to take ownership of their health care choices.
“The success of HIP 2.0 is a testament to the value of state-led innovation in health care reform. We are expanding access to care for hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers and we’re doing it the Indiana way,” said Governor Pence. “Unlike Medicaid in any other state, here in Indiana HIP 2.0 empowers low-income Hoosiers to take charge of their health, and with partners like the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, we’re setting the bar for an innovative model of health care reform for the nation.”
HIP 2.0 is the nation’s first consumer-driven health care program for Medicaid-eligible or low-income individuals. The program has replaced traditional Medicaid for all non-disabled adults in the state. Unlike traditional Medicaid programs, the HIP 2.0 program’s goal is not only to provide access to health insurance, but to engage members to take ownership for their health. The program introduces private market insurance concepts to prepare individuals for self-sufficiency.
At the luncheon, Governor Pence honored Indiana Minority Health Coalition President and CEO Nancy Jewell with a Sagamore of the Wabash for her efforts to move the HIP program forward.