INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Members of the State Budget Committee are taking a detailed look at how Gov. Mike Pence would pay for expanded health insurance under his “Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0.''
Administration officials presented the proposal to the committee Friday. Pence is submitting the proposal to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services later this month.
State Medicaid Director Joe Moser says the cigarette tax and an increase in the recently approved hospital assessment fee would cover the expansion's cost. The plan would cost about $18 billion over the next six years. The state would pay $1.5 billion and the federal government would pay $16.5 billion.
Republican Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley says he hopes Democratic state lawmakers will push Democrats in Washington to support the plan.
