Calls for Increasing Access to Health Care Coverage and Promoting Self-Sufficiency and Independence

Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today marked the first anniversary of the landmark approval of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0 waiver at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, where he first announced “HIP 2.0 is open for business.” There, he recognized the early successes of the HIP 2.0 program and called for continued efforts to improve access to the program and promote the program’s key features, including Gateway to Work and HIP Link.

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.

“HIP 2.0, has established a new health care paradigm in Indiana; rooted in consumerism and personal responsibility, and Indiana has become a model for other states.” said Governor Pence. “Hundreds of thousands of low-income Hoosiers are, for the first time, empowered to make choices about their health care and have new incentives to make the most of their health care dollar and improve their health. While we begin year two of HIP 2.0 with tremendous momentum and promising results, it’s time to go further.”

Today, more than 370,000 low-income Hoosiers are now participating in the expanded Healthy Indiana Plan, with nearly 7 out of 10 members electing to make contributions to their health savings-like account. The program has attracted more than 5,300 additional health care providers available to serve both Medicaid and HIP 2.0 members.

Governor Pence today announced that preliminary data from the Lewin survey, conducted among HIP members and providers showed promising results for the HIP 2.0 program thus far. These include that nearly a third of members report asking their doctors about the cost of health care; 52 percent of HIP 2.0 members check the balance of their health savings-like accounts and just over a third check that balance at least once a month.

Administration officials are set to embark on a new round of outreach events across the state that will continue through the year and will focus on enrollment and improving health outcomes for the participants.

In the coming year, the Pence administration will focus on encouraging more HIP participants to utilize the Gateway to Work program and promoting HIP Link to Indiana businesses. Gateway to Work is a voluntary program for HIP 2.0 members that provides career assessment and job counseling to help Hoosiers transition off assistance and into new, better, or more secure jobs. Since the program launched in May, over 3,200 eligible members have used the program. HIP Link is part of HIP 2.0 and provides assistance to individuals to participate in their employer’s insurance plan. The program, along with Gateway to Work, promotes self-sufficiency and employment.

During the event today, Governor Pence also announced a new award, the Healthy Indiana Public Service Award, which he awarded to first-ever recipients Senator Patricia Miller and Representative Charlie Brown for their work on HIP and HIP 2.0. The Healthy Indiana Public Service Award is bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to achieving a healthier Indiana.

A video featuring HIP members and representatives from the health care community was played at the event today and can be found here. Full list of video participants, selected quotes from the video, and biographies of event speakers can be found attached.

Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com

Ruling on an issue barely touched upon in a previous decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that a survivor benefit plan of a military pension should have been included in the marital pot when calculating asset distribution in a divorce.

Courtney and Beth Carr were married for 16 years when the husband filed for divorce. He had worked in the military 14 years prior to marriage and continued his service after the union.  He began earning his military pension before his marriage, but the pension vested during the marriage.

At issue in In Re the Marriage of: Courtney Carr v. Beth E. Carr
03A01-1505-DR-436, is whether the survivor benefit plan as part of the husband’s military pension, which the wife would receive in the event of his death, should have been included in the marital pot. The trial court excluded the benefits because the election for the SBP was not agreed upon until the dissolution was filed and ruled it was speculative if the wife would even collect on the benefits.

The trial court deviated from the presumptive 50/50 split based on the wife’s smaller earning capacity and divided the marital assets 60/40 in favor of Beth Carr. She ended up with a little more than $800,000 of the total marital estate of $1.345 million.

Husband argued that the SBP, with a value of $226,433.86, should have been included as a marital asset. Judge John Baker noted that the only Indiana case to deal with a military pension survivor benefit plan,Leonard v. Leonard, 877 N.E.2d 896, 901 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007), stated, “James correctly notes that his survivor benefit plan is a marital asset. Likewise, Karen’s survivor benefit annuity is a marital asset.”

“Both parties fully expected the SBP to be counted as a marital asset, and both parties expected the value to be counted as an asset going to Wife. To hold that SBPs are not marital property would be to remove any incentive a pension-earner would otherwise have to elect the benefit. By making the election, the pension-earner reduces the income he or she would have received during his or her lifetime; if the SBP is not counted in the marital pot, the pension-earner would clearly benefit financially by not making the election. Electing a SBP provides value to the other spouse, which the law acknowledges by counting that value as part of the marital pot,” Baker wrote Wednesday in Carr.

The judges remanded for the trial court to make new findings either justifying the 65/35 split, rather than the 60/40 split when the SBP is added to the marital pot; or reallocate the marital assets from wife to husband to bring the actual allocation into conformity with the previously decided 60/40 split.