Medicaid Expansion in Indiana Could Entice Other Republican States

After the Republican governor of Indiana reached an agreement to expand Medicaid under Obamacare by imposing new costs on poor adults, promoting healthy behaviors and relying on financing from smokers and hospitals, other Republican-led states might be more interested in signing up more Medicaid enrollees, Kaiser Health News's Phil Galewitz reports. Indiana is the 28th state to expand Medicaid.

The Obama administration granted Governor Mike Pence's administration a three-year waiver from the federal government to make Medicaid more like private insurance by including cost-sharing for receipients below the poverty level.

While advocates favor the expansion, there is criticism for the part of the plan that would lock people out of their Medicaid coverage for six months if they don't pay their premiums, Galewitz reports.