IBLC: Don’t just suspend Medicaid requirement, get rid of it

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-Indianapolis), chair of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus (IBLC), today issued the following statement on the decision by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) to temporarily suspend a requirement that certain Medicaid recipients work to receive their health care benefits:

“The IBLC is pleased that the state has recognized the chance that a federal lawsuit might render this unfair work requirement illegal. From the start, we have maintained that such a requirement places unfair burdens upon minorities and families on lower incomes. We have made that point to officials with FSSA on numerous occasions, and it has been good to see that we have been joined by other community activists, lawmakers, and people who realize that the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) provides the only chance they have to receive quality health care for their families.

“But it is important to say that suspension is not enough. We should be eliminating this requirement as a basis to receive coverage through HIP. It simply shouldn’t exist.”