Statement from Congressman André Carson on Gov. Mike Pence’s proposal to expand the Healthy Indiana Plan

INDIANAPOLIS -- Congressman André Carson (IN-07) issued the following statement today in response to Gov. Mike Pence's proposal to expand the Healthy Indiana Plan instead of expanding Medicaid to cover hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers for whom health insurance is out of reach:

"I consider Governor Pence a friend, and I enjoyed the time we spent together in Congress. I respect that this plan aligns with his personal beliefs, but I have serious concerns that it is an untested proposal that will still fail to provide critical health coverage to thousands of Hoosiers. This should be our goal as public servants.

"The reality is, despite modest expansion of programs like the Healthy Indiana Plan, our state remains a Midwestern island of the uninsured with almost 200,000 Hoosiers* stuck in the coverage gap. By contrast, look to our north, south, east and west, and you'll see states governed both by Republicans and Democrats that have chosen to expand Medicaid coverage.

"We could have made that choice, and more than 400,000 low-income Hoosiers would have had access to health care by now. Instead, we continue to try to reinvent the wheel. As someone who believes we have a duty to provide access to health care services to all Hoosiers regardless of their ability to pay, this is a frustrating situation."

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*https://www.commonwealthfund.org/Maps-and-Data/Medicaid-Expansion-Map.aspx