Shackleford amendments to SB 2 voted down by House Republicans, shifting $1 billion Medicaid shortfall onto Hoosiers

Yesterday, April 7, State Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-Indianapolis) presented a series of amendments to Senate Bill (SB) 2, “Medicaid matters,” a Republican-led proposal that would drastically limit participation in Indiana’s Medicaid program. SB 2 seeks to impose stricter eligibility checks, restrict enrollment based on budget constraints and impose work requirements on recipients.

Despite numerous Democratic efforts to improve the bill and mitigate its harmful impacts on Hoosiers, House Republicans voted down all of Shackleford’s amendments.

Amendment #2 aimed to raise the disqualification threshold for lottery winnings from $3,000 to $20,000. Under SB 2, individuals who win as little as $3,000 would lose Medicaid coverage, a policy Shackleford argued disproportionally punishes low-income Hoosiers for a one-time win.

Amendment #3 would have protected current HIP participants by “grandfathering” them into the program, ensuring future caps based solely on appropriations. It also suggested funding coverage for these individuals through a potential increase in the cigarette tax.

Amendment #4 would have removed new state-imposed work requirements from the bill and defaulted to existing federal Medicaid regulations.

Amendment #5 aimed to prevent unnecessary loss of coverage. This amendment sought to maintain the current annual redetermination process for Medicaid eligibility rather than moving to costly and burdensome monthly and quarterly checks. The proposed redetermination system in SB 2 increases administrative expenses while risking the removal of eligible Hoosiers from the system.

Amendment #6 aimed to clarify definitions of paid advertising and marketing to include communications funded by public or private dollars that are intended to solicit, promote, or encourage Medicaid enrollment. It explicitly exempted nonprofits, advocacy groups, and health care providers offering general information, education and outreach.

Shackleford released the following statement on her voted down amendments to SB 2:

“As much as the majority wants to say this bill cuts the red tape - it adds more of it, and Hoosiers will pay the price. We are sitting on a surplus, yet we’re choosing to kick people off Medicaid instead of addressing the real drivers of the shortfall, managed care entities and systemic fraud at the institutional level.

“Because of a few bad apples, this legislature is treating every Medicaid recipient like they’re abusing the system. That’s simply not true. Most are working, doing their best and just trying to survive. 

“This bill doesn’t save money - it shifts the blame and the burden onto vulnerable Hoosiers while letting those actually responsible off the hook. We should be making it easier for people to get care, not punishing them with red tape and false narratives.”