INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Gov. Mike Pence has requested a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss issues that may be blocking a federal approval of using the state's health savings accounts to expand Medicaid coverage for needy people in Indiana.

Pence requested the meeting in a letter dated Nov. 15. It was made public by Pence's office on Tuesday.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports the health savings accounts, known as the Healthy Indiana Plan, currently insure about 40,000 Hoosiers who agree to make monthly contributions unless they qualify for exemptions.

Pence has so far declined to expand eligibility for Medicaid as called for under the federal health care overhaul. The Kaiser Family Foundation has projected an increase would add as many as 180,000 to Indiana's Medicaid rolls.