Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
This is a pretty eye-popping stat from Kaiser Health News: Indiana kicked about 25,000 people out of its Healthy Indiana Program — the Medicaid expansion program approved under then-Gov. Mike Pence — for not paying their premiums.
The rationale: The idea of adding premiums to Medicaid is to get enrollees used to the world of private health insurance, where you can also lose your coverage if you don’t pay your premiums. But most private insurance is job-based, where the risk of losing your coverage is lower because your share of your premium automatically comes out of your paycheck.
Worth noting: About half of those people got new health coverage in other ways, usually through a job. But that still leaves a lot of people who just lost their health coverage.
The big picture: Kentucky’s recently approved Medicaid waiver made headlines because it imposed work requirements on Medicaid benefits, but it also added premiums to the program, ranging from $1 to $15 per month. This is a trend.
- But the Indiana news could jump-start a debate over whether low-income people can afford to pay for their coverage at all.
What’s next: HHS secretary Alex Azar is headed to Indiana today, possibly to announce the approval of its Medicaid work requirements. (HHS wouldn't confirm this.)