Indiana Family to Family

Indiana must make key decisions related to health insurance exchanges before 2013. Affordable Insurance Exchanges are designed to make buying health coverage easier and more affordable. Starting in 2014, Exchanges will allow individuals and small businesses to compare health plans, get answers to questions, find out if they are eligible for tax credits for private insurance or health programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and enroll in a health plan that meets their needs. An Exchange can help you: Look for and compare private health plans Get answers to questions about your health coverage options Find out if you’re eligible for health programs or tax credits that make coverage more affordable Enroll in a health plan that meets your needs What this means for you: For individuals and families, the Exchange is a single place where you can enroll in private or public health insurance coverage. For small employers, the Exchange is a way to level the playing field,

Family Voices Indiana recognizes that you have been receiving many calls for advocacy and action lately, and we thank you for your efforts. These are challenging times at the state and national level and it is critical that our representatives hear from families about how important the systems and services we interact with are. To support your efforts we share the following critical action alert from our partners at AMCHP and National Family Voices: At 3:00 p.m. EST today (September 21) the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on a Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for FY 2012 that includes a $50 million cut to the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant. This cut will affect every state and possibly every Title V SPRANS grant. In Indiana the Block Grant support many important programs including the Children's Special Health Care Services program. Elected officials need to hear from you NOW about the impact of this cut

Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services (IPAS) is seeking input from Hoosiers with disabilities, family members and professionals. Your comments will help identify the major disability rights barriers which people with disabilities face that may interfere with achieving full community integration and independence in Indiana. This information provided will help IPAS make decisions about how resources and manpower are used to address these barriers during the coming year. Our goal is to obtain input from all 92 Indiana counties. The IPAS Critical Barriers survey takes only a few minutes to complete and can be found at: www.thepollingplace.org . Thank you for your assistance. To request the poll in an alternative format, or for additional information about the survey, contact Jeffrey Chait by phone: 1-800-825-4733 or e-mail: cwlab@indiana.edu . ______________________________ ______________________________ _________ The Critical Barriers survey is being conducted by the Center for Pl