Indiana’s Healthy Indiana Plan, the state’s Medicaid coverage for low-income adults, will require people who apply in January 2027 to prove they put in 80 hours a month of work or another qualifying activity in October, November and December 2026, the state says. Enforcement starts January 1, 2027. The Family and Social Services Administration announced October 5 that more than 58,000 current members are not in compliance.
A look-back that is already running
Indiana law requires a three-month look-back, according to the FSSA’s release on the work requirements. January 2027 applicants must show compliance for October, November and December 2026. Later applicants must show it for the three consecutive months before they apply, which by the same rule means November, December and January for a February applicant.
The requirement reaches HIP adults ages 19 to 64 who are not pregnant and not enrolled in or eligible for Medicare, per FSSA’s HIP work requirements guidance. It applies to new applicants and to redeterminations started on or after January 1, 2027.
The exemptions decide who is inside. FSSA names being under 26 and formerly in foster care, being a member of a federally recognized tribe, caring for a child 13 or younger, being pregnant or within 12 months of pregnancy ending, recent release from jail or prison, and being medically frail. Substance use treatment also qualifies, and FSSA adds that other exemptions may apply.
A 55-year-old HIP member who is not medically frail, not a caregiver of a young child and not on Medicare is inside the requirement. Members who think they qualify for an exemption need FSSA to have current contact information, because the state uses it to verify exemptions.
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October is almost over, and November and December are still ahead. The 80 hours can be a mix. FSSA lists employment, job training, part-time education, community service, volunteering and internships, and says earning at least $580 a month also meets the standard.
The guidance’s activity list differs slightly from the release. Apprenticeship and work programs appear alongside employment, half-time school and community volunteering, and members can combine activities to reach 80 hours. Half-time enrollment in an eligible program meets the requirement on its own.
How FSSA says it will check
Compliance will be reviewed quarterly, starting with wage and program data the state already holds. Members whose compliance cannot be verified electronically will get a notice asking for documents.
Sunshine Beam, director of FSSA’s Division of Family Resources, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle in April that state law, Senate Enrolled Act 1, requires compliance checks at least quarterly. She said the federal budget law also moves HIP redeterminations to every six months, and that members will face at least three times as many checks as now.
Hours are reported through the FSSA Benefits Portal, where members can also upload requested documents and report changes such as income or address. An FSSA notice titled HIP work requirements will be implemented says the requirements take effect January 1, 2027 for certain adults 19 to 64 who are not exempt.
For help, FSSA lists its State Information Center at 1-800-457-8283, or a text line at 1-888-311-1846. Its guidance does not set a monthly reporting deadline beyond the 80-hour monthly standard and does not describe what happens when a member falls short.
The 58,000 figure and what officials say
FSSA’s October 5 announcement, linked from its HIP guidance, says more than 58,000 members are currently not in compliance with the pending requirements. It is the only member count in FSSA’s materials, since the July release carries none.
Gov. Mike Braun said in the state’s release that “Hoosiers deserve a system that offers support in challenging times.” FSSA Secretary E. Mitchell Roob Jr. put the responsibility on members: “Eligibility rests with each member and meeting program requirements is a fundamental obligation.”
FSSA is hiring 400 employees to check eligibility, and spokesman Marcus Barlow said 50 had been onboarded by late April. Roob told the Chronicle the state will not save money from the effort, since the federal government pays 90 percent of costs for the expansion group and the hospital assessment fee covers the other 10 percent.
Current members are not outside the timetable. The requirement reaches them when a redetermination begins on or after January 1, 2027, so when it applies depends on each member’s review date.
Members on Medicare or eligible for it are outside the requirement entirely. That matters for HIP adults who qualify for Medicare because of a disability and for members who turn 65, since the rule stops at age 64.
Dates for applicants between now and January
For a January applicant the sequence is short. Two months of the look-back remain, the application follows, and the quarterly review of wage and program data comes after that. An applicant whose only proof is a volunteer log should start keeping it in writing.
The release is dated July 6, 2026, so the state has had the details out for months and its HIP guidance was updated October 22. Nothing in either points to a delay of the January 1 start.
What an applicant needs now is to know which of the listed activities fits, and which exemption, if any, applies. The first question each January applicant faces is whether October is already counted.
Applying for Healthy Indiana Plan coverage in January?
The three-month look-back means October, November and December 2026 already decide a January application. An applicant who cannot show 80 hours a month, or an exemption, risks starting 2027 without coverage.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer covers the new Medicaid work requirement and who is exempt, and its 51 state packs include Indiana’s. Part 6 explains the Medicaid work rule and the 90-day rescue window after coverage is dropped.
Check Medicaid work-rule exemptions before January with the renewal organizer →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
