Pelath on HIP 2.0 decision: At long last, affordable coverage within reach for working Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath from Michigan City today issued the following statement on the Obama Administration’s decision to approve the HIP 2.0 health care program:

“From the start of this lengthy debate, our goal has been clear: to remove the emergency room as the only health care option for hundreds of thousands of Hoosier workers. Today’s announcement brings our goal within sight, and for that we should be thankful.

“This has taken longer than we had wished. But while there are countless disagreements over the means to achieve health care affordability, when President Obama and Mike Pence agree, we ought to feel some modest satisfaction, take stock of our future, and move forward.

“Now come the nitty-gritty details of making this work, and it is time to leave ideology at the door. Pragmatism, practical problem solving, and holding the bureaucrats accountable come next. None of this will be easy or simple.

“However, today we can announce that the Affordable Care Act has fully arrived in Indiana. Now we can contemplate the possibilities of a healthier, adequately insured workforce. And the specter of medical bankruptcies can now slowly drift into history.”