Gov. Mike Pence announced Monday that the current version of the Healthy Indiana Plan will live on for another year.
The Healthy Indiana Plan, the state's health insurance program for low-income Hoosiers, serves about 60,000 people. The federal government renewed HIP for another year late last week.
This comes as the state is negotiating with the feds for approval of HIP 2.0, its healthcare expansion plan that would extend coverage to more than 350,000 Hoosiers.
Pence says he's hopeful that the plan's renewal is a sign the Obama administration is open to moving forward with HIP 2.0 approval.
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, aren't so bullish on the possibility of approved expansion. Long says he's worried the federal government won't come through.
"To see them dithering out there in Washington on this issue is very disappointing and I suspect in the end that they'll reject it; that's my guess, and they'll do it for purely political reasons," Long says.
The federal government didn't provide the state a timetable for its decision on HIP 2.0.