Indiana Health Insurance

How healthy is living in Indiana?

In United Health Foundation's 2007 ranking of the healthiest states in which to live, Indiana comes in at 32. That's up one position from 2006.

Indiana's highest ranking, in the 20 categories ranked, is #14 for a low rate of uninsured. It's next highest rank is #17 for cases of infectious disease.

It's entries in the bottom 10 of all states were: 46th rank for low rate of smoking; 41st for low rate of obesity (27.8 percent of Indianans are considered obese, up from 14.5 percent in 1990); and 45th in ranking states for low rates of cancer death.

The smoking rate is actually an improvement over 2006, when the state was ranked 49th.

See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Indiana.

Does Indiana have a risk pool for the uninsurable?

Indiana Comprehensive Health Association (click "guest" for access, then choose "ICHIA")
Toll-free 1-800-552-7921 or (317) 614-2000

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state-to-state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the poolto keep it in the black. In the best cases they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Find more on risk pools here.

Cover The Uninsured's guide on finding health insurance in Indiana

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Indiana.
• Its guide on how to find health insurance in Indiana.
• Materiales En Español -- Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown University's Guide to Health Insurance in Indiana

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations contribute to funding its research. Find more on the Health Policy Institute.

• Georgetown's guide for Indiana.

News headlines on Indiana health insurance

Find the most recent headlines on health insurance in Indiana at Google News or Yahoo News.

Want single-payer health care? Concerned about the uninsured?
Contact your elected officials about health care issues

Contact your federal officials. Phone calls are best. Faxes are good, too. Since 9-11 postal mail creates long delays, and many members of Congress simply do not take e-mail seriously -- however, since e-mail is so easy it doesn't hurt to do that, too. Members of the Senate and Congress will usually ignore any correspondence that is not from their district, so its not desirable to blanket e-mail them (this type of abuse is why many do not view it favorably). The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a guide on how to contact your elected officials, including a valuable list of dos and dont's.

• Contact the White House
  Phone: toll free 1-800-671-7887 (ask for the Comment Line)
  FAX: 1 202-456-2461 (fax)
  E-mail:comments@whitehouse.gov
  
  
• Find contact information on your U.S. Representative
  Locate by using your ZIP Code
  Or if you know who your representative is, simply call the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 1-800-962-3524

• Senator Evan Bayh
  PHONE: 202-224-5623 (DC office)
  FAX: 202-228-1377 (DC office)
  Local offices (bottom of page)
  Contact by E-mail

• Senator Richard Lugar
  PHONE: 202-224-4814 (DC office)
  FAX: 202-228-0360 (DC office)
  Local offices
  Contact by E-mail
  
  

Contact your state officials:

• Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
  Statehouse
  Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
  PHONE: 317-232-4567
  Contact by e-mail
  
  
  
• Contact your Indiana State Senator and State Representative

USNews health insurance rankings for Indiana

US News does an annual ranking of what it considers the best health insurance plans in each state. Visit its reports on various health insurance or medical insurance plans being offered in Indiana.

Official State Goverment Sites with Indiana Health Insurance Information

Indiana Insurance Department-- The health insurance section of the official state site.

Consumers Guide to Health Insurance --Resolving disputes with health insurance companies

Federal Government sites with specific Indiana Information

Noting above that Indianans take a disproportionate number of mental health days, here the National Mental Health Information Centers lists Indiana Mental Health Resources published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.