Family Voices Indiana

Members of Family Voices Indiana are traveling to Washington DC to meet with Indiana Senators and Congressman on Tuesday February 14th. We will be sharing how important health and other services are to you. You can help. Please call or email Senator Lugar, Senator Coats and your Congressman (To find out who your Congressman is members is, visit here .) on Monday February 13; remind them that they are representing Hoosier families who are raising children who have disabilities and special health care needs. Hearing from you on Monday will greatly increase the impact of our meetings on Tuesday.

If you are in the Indy area, join us for a FREE training about healthcare financing. This will also be available online in the future, so we'll keep you posted. To Your Child's Health Flyer NavFundingMaze

Recently, Rylin Rodgers of Family Voices Indiana, was interviewed by IN*SOURCE about the types of Medicaid waivers and the application process. As the family to family information center for the state, we're happy to help answer any questions you might have about applicable waivers, community resources, caregiver support, and/or the application process. Feel free to contact us if you need help. 317 944 8982 Info@fvindiana.org Podcast Powered By Podbean

"How do we change disablism? Read. Write. Speak. Or sign. Learn stories and tell them. Teach others how to tell them. Edit them. Publish them. Retell others' stories. The power is yours. The power is through words." ~ from Frida Writes Do you blog about your experiences as a parent of a child with special health care needs in Indiana? If so, Family Voices Indiana would like to share your blog with others. We hope to feature an Indiana blogger in our monthly newsletter so other families can connect with you, learn from you, and possibly be inspired to write their own story... If you're considering writing a blog and you need some inspiration, you can link to several here and here . If writing a blog seems overwhelming, we welcome your articles, stories, etc as well. We'd love to feature your family story on our website. Please contact us at info@fvindiana.org or call 317 944 8982 if you'd like to share your story with us.

By Emily McKinley, Health Information Specialist As we have explored, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has many provisions. The nearly 1000 page legislation is multifaceted and addresses numerous issues, one of which is medical loss ratios (MLR). Perhaps you’ve not yet heard of this provision; it seems to be a sleeper issue in a complex law. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the act’s MLR clause will ensure “consumers will receive more value for their premium dollars because insurance companies are required to spend 80-to-85 percent of premium dollars on medical care and health care quality improvement, rather than on overhead costs.” Insurance companies dealing in individual and small group markets must spend at least 80% of consumer insurance premiums on qualified medical expenses. Large group insurers see an increase in the MLR to 85%. Insurers that do not meet this requirement must provide rebates to their consumers beginning this year, 2012, and