Porter comments on 2% growth cap on Indiana’s Medicaid appropriation

Last week, the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) announced its intention to place a 2% growth cap on the state general fund appropriation for Medicaid in 2028. The appropriation for Indiana’s Medicaid program would only grow by around $100 million each year, far below the program's $2.1 billion increase in the 2023 biennium. 

State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) released the following statement: 

“No other state has a growth cap on its Medicaid appropriation. That’s because they’re not a viable solution. Uniform growth caps don't differentiate between necessary expansions and trimming the fat. 

“A cap on the growth of traditional Medicaid, not just the HIP expansion, goes back on Republicans' promises. They vowed to leave regular Medicaid alone when the One Big Ugly Bill reduced federal funding for HIP, which we leverage with hospital assessment fees and a portion of the cigarette tax.

“Limiting growth will directly reduce or outright eliminate services for those who need them the most: children, pregnant women, seniors and the disabled. We will have zero flexibility for additional enrollees, new services, to cover certain prescriptions or to match certain federal funds. Medical inflation is 3.3%, so we won’t even have the ability to cover the increased cost of our current program. 

“Cost-saving solutions should be discussed. But a growth cap can’t fix the real factors behind Medicaid’s expansion. There’s a greater need for affordable health care since our aging population is swelling, the number of households in poverty is growing and Hoosiers' overall health is poor.  

“Investments in public health would truly lower our Medicaid appropriation, but we slashed funding for that by $145 million. A growth cap on traditional Medicaid will have serious consequences for our families, especially when combined with the One Big Ugly Bill.”