State to extend Healthy Indiana Plan

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana is expected to sign off on an extension of its Healthy Indiana Plan started by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

A spokeswoman for the Family and Social Services Administration said the state received the needed paperwork from the federal government Thursday and enrollees will not see a lapse in coverage.

FSSA has until Dec. 31 to accept the extension.

The Daniels administration wrangled with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the program this summer. The program offers health savings accounts to the state's working poor in place of traditional Medicaid coverage and requires them to pay a monthly premium.

It has covered roughly 100,000 residents since it began in 2008 and was offered by the state as an alternative to the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care overhaul.