HHS grants second waiver for Medicaid work requirement in Indiana
In Kentucky, the first state to receive approval for a Medicaid work requirement, 15 beneficiaries have filed a lawsuit.
While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services faces a lawsuit in the first state to get approval for a Medicaid work requirement, HHS has granted a second waiver demonstration in another.
On February 2, HHS Secretary Alex Azar approved a Section 1115 waiver for Indiana to include a requirement for work or some type of community engagement for able-bodied, working-age Medicaid recipients to receive the benefit.
The Healthy Indiana Plan follows a waiver granted in Kentucky, where last month, 15 Medicaid enrollees filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., asking for class action status against the Trump Administration's new policy requiring able-bodied beneficiaries to work to receive Medicaid.
[Also: Kentucky enrollees, advocates, file lawsuit against Medicaid work requirement]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the guidelines for the new policy on January 11 and granted Kentucky's waiver the next day.
The Healthy Indiana extension also includes funding authority to expand treatment options for Medicaid enrollees struggling with substance abuse and opioid addiction.
[Also: CMS approves first 10-year waiver extension in Mississippi]
"We look forward to collaborating with Indiana on this next evolution of HIP, which serves as another example of the Trump Administration's support of state-led efforts and innovative reforms to make our HHS programs really work for Americans," Azar said.
"A decade after it launched, Healthy Indiana has become the national model for a state-led, consumer-driven healthcare program that meets citizens' healthcare needs, provides choices and improves lives," said Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.
Numerous states have requested Medicaid demonstration projects in which work and other types of community engagement would be a condition of Medicaid coverage.
