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Last updated on Tuesday, July 25, 2017
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly announced that if the Senate moves forward with an effort to repeal the health care law, he will offer an amendment that would protect Medicaid, including HIP 2.0 and the Medicaid expansion nationwide.
The Senate health care bill, as currently written, would end HIP 2.0 as we know it, undermining coverage for more than 400,000 Hoosiers, and drastically cut Medicaid, which would impact families, students, adults and children with disabilities, and seniors.
Donnelly said, "More than 400,000 Hoosiers have been able to access health care through HIP 2.0, an innovative, bipartisan plan that I was proud to work with then-Governor Pence to establish. I believe we should work together to improve our health care system, however I will not support efforts that would roll back progress, take away coverage or raise costs for Hoosiers. That's why I will offer a measure to protect HIP 2.0 and Medicaid if the Senate moves forward in considering the health care bill."
Donnelly supported and worked with then-Governor Pence to expand Indiana's Medicaid program through the Affordable Care Act. It's a program that Pence has touted as a "national model of how to provide affordable health care coverage to our most vulnerable citizens" and a critical component of Indiana's effort to fight the opioid epidemic.
Throughout discussions on the Senate health care bill, Donnelly has highlighted how the bill would harm Hoosiers on HIP 2.0 and traditional Medicaid. He has met with concerned Hoosiers who rely on Medicaid to ensure their children with complex medical conditions can access the care they need. Donnelly has also spoken with seniors who rely on Medicaid, noting 62% of Hoosier nursing homes residents use Medicaid.
He also joined with Indiana school superintendents to share how cuts to Medicaid would harm the ability of schools to provide certain health-related services, including individualized education plans and special transportation for children with disabilities, as well as social workers, physical and occupational therapists and medical equipment. Recently, Donnelly heard from Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick who cited her concern that cuts to Medicaid place many Indiana schools in "the untenable position of finding replacement funds. Such actions will unquestionably result in budget cuts impacting educational programs and opportunities for all students." Indiana schools could lose $3.6 million per year in funding by 2036 under the Senate health care bill.
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