Majority of Hoosiers have health insurance, but official highlights rise of 'underinsurance'

More than 90 percent of Hoosiers have health insurance. But, an official from Gov. Mike Braun's administration said while that's a large percentage, it can be a little misleading.

Many people who have health insurance are considered underinsured, which means their health plan is inadequate. For some, the only option they can afford comes with a deductible that is much higher than what most people can spend on health care each year.

Audrey Arbogast, chief of staff to the Indiana Health and Family Services secretary, said there is an increase in people who are underinsured.

"More often times than not, people are struggling to reach the deductible threshold in order to get coverage for those out of pocket expenses," Arbogast said.

Arbogast said more people — especially those with high-deductible health plans — are having a hard time getting care while paying those costs.

"It's a balance of trying to ensure we're not encouraging over utilization of services, but also making sure that Hoosiers aren't avoiding going to receive care when they need it, or from a preventative standpoint," Arbogast said.

Underinsurance can lead to higher medical debt, as people turn to credit cards and bank loans to cover their medical care.

Arbogast said Indiana has a high rate of people on high deductible health plans and a higher than average percentage of people on self-funded, employer-sponsored health plans. She said the administration is focused on "giving people the opportunity to look at innovative points of access" for care and coverage for different types of services.
 

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Arbogast also highlighted access to primary care and quality of care as issues that the administration wants to address.

She said on average people have to wait 21 days to see a primary care provider and travel 10 miles, but she emphasized that there is a wide gap between how far people in rural and urban areas have to travel. She also said 87 percent of people in rural Indiana are located in a physician shortage area.

Arbogast also praised the passage of several pieces of legislation that health leaders said would put rural providers and hospitals under increased pressure which could mean a higher threat of closure.

That includes Senate Enrolled Act 2, which makes significant changes to the state's Medicaid program, and Senate Enrolled Act 118, which would require additional reporting for hospitals utilizing the 340B drug pricing program.

Abigail is our health reporter. Contact them at aruhman@wfyi.org or on Signal at IPBHealthRuhman.65.