Some states are tinkering with the federal government's Medicaid expansion program by using it to force new Medicaid patients to pay for and invest in their own health coverage.

As reported by NPR, the states of Michigan and Indiana have already implemented Medicaid expansion programs that require copays of participants, and strongly encourage them to invest up to $25 a month in what is essentially a health savings account from which they will pay part of their own medical expenses.

Indiana's Medicaid program differs from Michigan's in that it was established in 2008 as the Healthy Indiana plan, and has essentially been granted a waiver by the feds to continue as is. Because of its design, Indiana's plan doesn't offer the same range of benefits to new Medicaid enrollees under the federal expansion option.

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.