Indiana plan draws 21,101 applications; lawmakers say more needed

AP/Examiner.com, February 7, 2008

Demand for affordable healthcare has produced 21,101 applications for the Healthy Indiana Plan for low-income adults, but key lawmakers said the state must find ways to cover people not currently eligible. Secretary Mitch Roob of the Family and Social Services Administration said that his agency has had to more than double the staff of the Healthy Indiana Plan because of the volume of applications. But some are criticizing the plan's restrictions that bar enrollment,to anyone eligible for an employer-covered health plan and to anyone whose household earns more than twice the federal poverty level.