Thanks, Obamacare – Pence owes his signature achievement – HIP 2.0 – to the Affordable Care Act
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette // IDP Chairman John Zody

The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0’s one-year anniversary is this week – and there’s a lot to be excited about.

Now more than ever, everyday Hoosiers – including many folks who have never had health insurance before – can enroll in a program and receive the affordable and quality health coverage they deserve.

Because of HIP 2.0, more than 355,000 Hoosiers now are covered. That means hardworking Hoosiers from across the state can rest assured they no longer have to worry about being denied health care.

With all of the good that comes from HIP 2.0, we must be mindful of how it was all made possible.

While this program was formally created by the Pence administration, it took Gov. Mike Pence nearly two years to decide that providing health care to Hoosiers was more important than his ideology.

Pence is now touting HIP 2.0 as his signature achievement as governor. However, what he won’t tell Hoosiers is that HIP 2.0 is largely paid for by the Affordable Care Act.

That’s right, Hoosiers. Just like any politician from Washington, Pence believes he can talk from both sides of his mouth. He thinks he can intellectually deceive Hoosiers – but we know better than that.

Under the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers can now enroll in HIP 2.0, adding to the children already enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and other Hoosiers enrolled in the federal exchange program.

The Affordable Care Act is working, and without it, HIP 2.0 would cease to exist. All this good for our state comes as Pence still refuses to acknowledge the benefits of the federal health care law.

If he had it his way,the Affordable Care Act would be fully repealed, as he put it, “lock, stock and barrel.”

No more coverage for pre-existing conditions, no more coverage for children enrolled in CHIP. And no more health care for the hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers who now have coverage.

Everyday Hoosiers and even the media know Pence embraced President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But does the governor know it?

Simple answer: Yes. He does.

When will Pence stop with his out-of-touch ideology and publicly fight for the health care of everyday Hoosiers who rely on the Affordable Care Act?

Pence thinks he can tell Hoosiers how great HIP 2.0 is without telling them that he couldn’t have done it without Obama’s help. He wants to continue his call for the Affordable Care Act’s repeal while touting the successes of HIP 2.0.

Well, governor – you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Mike Pence is playing politics with Hoosiers. But what he doesn’t know is that we all see through his ideology.