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Mathematica to Evaluate the Healthy Indiana Plan
Evaluation Will Study an Innovative Program for Uninsured Adults
Contact: Cheryl Pedersen, (609) 275-2258
PRINCETON, N.J. (December 11, 2009)—Mathematica Policy Research has been awarded a five-year, $2.5 million contract to conduct an evaluation of the Healthy Indiana Plan, a Medicaid 1115 demonstration waiver program—a section of the Social Security Act that allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services broad authority to approve projects that test policy innovations—for the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning. Mathematica will determine the extent to which the plan reduces the number of uninsured people in Indiana, by analyzing program performance as well as provider and participant outcomes. Evaluations of 1115 waiver programs are required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Healthy Indiana Plan began providing health insurance for uninsured adults ages 19 to 65 in January 2008. Participants contribute between two and five percent of their gross family income to a type of health savings account in exchange for a high-deductible plan that offers prescriptions, physician services, inpatient and outpatient hospital visits, diagnostic exams, preventive care, disease and case management, and behavioral health services.
Mathematica will interview program staff, health plans, and safety net providers; conduct a telephone survey with plan participants; and analyze claims data. In addition to studying the extent to which the plan reduces the number of uninsured people in the state, Mathematica will also look at whether the plan improves access to health care; promotes personal responsibility and value-based (consumer-driven) decision making; increases use of preventive health services; prevents progression of chronic diseases; provides appropriate and quality-based health care; and ensures state fiscal responsibility. Mathematica will produce annual evaluation reports, as well as short white papers for general audiences.
Carol Irvin, a senior researcher at Mathematica and an expert in state Medicaid programs, is directing the project. Survey researcher Holly Matulewicz is directing the survey. Cindy Collier Consulting, LLC, a policy and communication firm specializing in health and social services issues, will also participate in the evaluation, which will run through April 2014.
Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research methods and standards, and program management/data system support, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, education, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.