Pence rules out Medicaid expansion in current form

Associated Press

TOM LoBIANCO, Associated Press

Updated: Feb 6, 2013 12:42 PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Mike Pence is ruling out expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law unless Indiana gets approval to use state health savings accounts for the expansion.

Pence told reporters Wednesday that the only way he would approve a Medicaid expansion would be if the state is given the choice of using its Healthy Indiana Plan to cover new enrollees.

The Republican governor declared his intentions in a call with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week. He also told her that Indiana does not plan to build a "hybrid" health exchange with the federal government.

Indiana's Medicaid rolls are expected to grow by 90,000 without the expansion and the state's actuary says they could increase by 427,000 residents under a full expansion.

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