Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Indiana program

Child coverage with a monthly premium (Hoosier Healthwise Package C)

Indiana's children's health plan for families above the free Medicaid line.

What it is

Indiana's children's health plan for families above the free Medicaid line.

Package C is the next coverage check when a child does not fit another Hoosier Healthwise category. The same application checks both. Enrollment in comprehensive private insurance blocks Package C, although an ordinary employer offer alone does not.

Eligibility rules
  • Indiana residence and age under 19 are required. Other Hoosier Healthwise categories are considered first.
  • The upper published base line from March 1, 2026 is 250% of poverty: $6,875 monthly for four people.
  • Access to State of Indiana employee coverage can bar Package C even without enrollment. The exception is access through a noncustodial parent.
  • The former waiting period ended June 1, 2024.
  • The state applies a five-percentage-point allowance when it changes the answer. This screen uses the base upper line.
What you get
  • Child health coverage with a monthly family premium of $22–$70, specified copays and benefit limits that differ from free child Medicaid.
  • Hospital and doctor care through a Hoosier Healthwise plan.
What the help includes
  • Monthly premiums for one child are $22, $33, $42 or $53 across the four income bands.
  • For two or more children, the corresponding family premiums are $33, $50, $53 or $70.
  • Package C has a family premium and some copays. The published charges are $3 for a generic or preferred prescription, $10 for a brand-name or nonpreferred prescription, and $10 for specified ambulance trips. Premiums and copays for covered care are limited to 5% of family countable income over the annual Package C period. Its benefit limits differ from free child Medicaid, including limits on equipment and supplies; a bill for a genuinely noncovered service is not automatically canceled by the cost-sharing cap.
  • Package C caps equipment and supplies at $2,000 a year and $5,000 over a lifetime, a limit free Medicaid does not have; ask the counselor whether that matters for your child's treatment.
  • The oncology team and exact plan can check transplant, equipment and other limited benefits in writing. A limit does not automatically open CSHCS or another gap program.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor to help with the Indiana benefits application.
  2. Have current income and insurance information ready, including any access to a State of Indiana employee plan.
  3. Ask the counselor to check your treatment team and explain the first premium bill.

Indiana Division of Family Resources, 800-403-0864 · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The benefits office decides the income band and the plan handles covered care.
  • Package C approval can be conditional on paying the first required premium for the month after authorization. If that payment is made as required, coverage is brought back to the first day of the application month; Package C does not cover months before that application. The notice gives the payment amount and deadline.
  • Once enrollment is established, failure to pay a later Package C premium cannot end a child's coverage before the end of the 12-month continuous-eligibility period. Nonpayment can affect renewal. Missing the first required premium is different and can prevent conditional approval from becoming enrollment.
Good to know

The first required premium completes conditional enrollment. When its conditions are met, coverage can reach back to the application month, but not earlier months.

Other details
  • An offer of ordinary work insurance differs from actual enrollment. The State of Indiana employee-plan exception is narrower and needs its own check.

Federal background: Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“If our child cannot get free Medicaid, would Package C fit? Could we compare its premium, treatment access and drawbacks, and get help with the application if it makes sense?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the cost and coverage before changing how our child's treatment is insured.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

File the one Indiana application and say the child has no other comprehensive insurance. Pay the first premium when the bill arrives.

Your social worker

The oncology social worker checks which plans the treating team is in and helps with the application.

The care team

Nothing. This is an income decision, not a medical one.

Who decides
The Division of Family Resources decides the tier; the Hoosier Healthwise plan you pick runs the coverage.
Ask your social worker
“If we are over the Medicaid line, can you check Package C for us, tell me which tier and premium we fall into, and which plan keeps our oncology team?”

How to apply

First step: File the one Indiana application at fssabenefits.in.gov. The state checks Package A first and moves the child to Package C if income is too high.

  1. File one application: the state checks Package A first and drops to Package C if income is too high.
  2. Pay the first premium as soon as the bill arrives, or enrolment does not start.
  3. Check the oncology group is in the plan network before choosing.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply at fssabenefits.in.gov or call 800-403-0864. Package C is considered after every other Hoosier Healthwise category.

What to gather

  • Child's identity document and Social Security number
  • This month's income for the tax household
  • Any insurance cards
  • Whether anyone in the home can cover the child under the State of Indiana employee plan

How long: The same 45-day standard as the rest of the application. Coverage starts no earlier than the month you applied, and enrolment follows the first premium payment.

What a yes looks like

A notice naming the tier, the monthly premium and a Hoosier Healthwise plan, with a premium bill to pay.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the answer is other insurance, ask what counts as comprehensive. If it is the state-employee rule, ask whether the employee is the non-custodial parent.

Watch out

  • Being enrolled in comprehensive private insurance bars this; being offered a work plan does not.
  • If a parent or carer can put the child on the State of Indiana employee plan, the child cannot have Package C, unless that employee is the non-custodial parent.
  • The first required premium for the month after authorization completes conditional enrollment. When conditions are met, coverage reaches back to the application month, not earlier months.

Dates that change this

2024-01-01: The public premium page still shows a 2024 chart with a 151 per cent heading. The dated 2026 manual governs; ask the caseworker which tier applies.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Child coverage above the Medicaid line for $22 to $70 a month for the family. For four people the top line is $6,875 a month.

  • $6,875/month — Top tier ceiling, family of 4, published base line (250 per cent)
  • $22/month — Monthly premium, lowest tier, one child
  • $70/month — Monthly premium, top tier, two or more children
  • $3,391.5/month — Published final income-guide cell, single-person household

Covers: Hospital and clinic care · Chemotherapy and prescriptions · Specialist care through the plan network · Dental and vision

Legal protection: 12 months of continuous coverage · After the first premium is paid, non-payment can end coverage only at renewal

What it costs the family: $22–$70 monthly family premium plus $3 generic/preferred prescription, $10 brand/nonpreferred prescription and $10 specified ambulance copays. Covered premiums and copays have a 5% annual family-income cap; noncovered charges are separate.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
under 19
Age max exclusive
19
Income
above the Package A line and at or under the tier-four base line of 250 per cent of the poverty line, effective March 1, 2026
Insurance status condition
enrolment in comprehensive private insurance bars it; an ordinary employer offer alone does not. Access to the State of Indiana employee plan bars it even without enrolment, except where the state employee is the non-custodial parent.
Residency
Indiana
Waiting period
none since June 1, 2024
Retroactive months
0: coverage starts no earlier than the month of application

Decisions this site cannot make: Division of Family Resources income decision after every other Hoosier Healthwise category

Expect friction on: The first premium has to be paid before enrolment starts

The trap: The premium page still shows a 2024 chart with a 151 per cent heading. The dated 2026 manual governs. Enrolment starts when the first premium is paid, and the months from application through authorisation are premium-free.

Where I read this

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