Governor Mike Pence says he wants to meet with President Obama to discuss what he calls increasing frustration over a lack of progress in getting approval for his proposed healthcare expansion.
Pence sent the president a letter requesting a meeting during his visit to Indiana Friday where he’ll discuss improvements in the economy.
The governor says he wants to deliver a message that the proposed expansion of the state’s health insurance program for low-income Hoosiers is not an idea; it’s a proven program.
And he says the core of the Healthy Indiana Plan and its expansion known as HIP 2.0 is personal responsibility, requiring people to make contributions to health savings accounts.
“There are incentives for them to do that; there are consequences if people don’t make their contributions,” Pence said. “Of the nearly 50 thousand people who are in the Healthy Indiana Plan today, more than 90 percent make their monthly contributions on a regular basis.”
Pence says he will not support the federal government’s efforts to water down HIP 2.0’s core principles. He says he will also remind Mr. Obama that the president’s administration has already reapproved the Healthy Indiana Plan twice in the last few years.
