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Healthy Indiana Plan Assists Uninsured Hoosiers

Last updated on Tuesday, December 18, 2007

(INDIANAPOLIS) - Indiana’s new health-coverage plan for the uninsured is likely to take a couple of years to get up to full speed.

The Healthy Indiana Plan will give up to 130-thousand Hoosiers free preventive care, and an $1,100 dollar health savings account for other routine treatment. Anything over that is fully covered. Coverage starts with the new year.

Family and Social Services Secretary Mitch Roob expects to run at a little more than a third of capacity at first, with about 50,000 Hoosiers enrolled. He says it took a while for the word to get out about past health plans, such as the children's health insurance plan.

The state began processing applications Monday. Roob says about 1,500 people had already applied.

You can apply online at www.hip.in.gov, by phone at 1-877-GET-HIP-9, or in person at FSSA offices or most hospital emergency rooms.

Anyone without employer-sponsored insurance whose income is less than double the poverty line is eligible. For a family of four, that's a threshold of about $41,000 a year.

Premiums are on a sliding scale of 2 to 4.5-percent of income. Uninsured Hoosiers who miss the income cutoff can still buy into the program at a higher premium.

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