Grassroots Power Saved Health Care in Indiana—We Need It Everywhere Now

In January 2025, Indiana lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 2, a proposal backed by the billionaire-funded Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) that threatened to upend the state’s Medicaid program. The bill would have reinstated work reporting requirements, imposed quarterly eligibility checks, capped enrollment in Indiana’s Medicaid expansion program known as the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), and terminated coverage after three years. FGA has pushed similar bills across the country, using a national playbook to shrink popular public programs under the guise of “reform.”

The stakes were enormous: nearly 2 million people – 1 in 5 Hoosiers – rely on Medicaid for affordable coverage and care. For the 752,339 people enrolled in HIP at the time, the bill would have meant a devastating loss of care, and economic stability for families already struggling to make ends meet.  

Community Organizing Turned the Tide

Led by our partners at Hoosier Action, community members mobilized quickly and forcefully: 

• Over 150 people from 55 districts gathered at the Statehouse for a Medicaid Day of Action. 
• Advocates delivered more than 700 personal health care stories to Governor Mike Braun’s office – urging him to meet with us and oppose the bill. 
• Residents met directly with more than 30 legislators to demand they protect Medicaid. 
• In partnership with organizations across the state, they coordinated more than 7,000 constituent contacts to legislators in opposition to the bill. 

Eliza Brader, who gets her insurance through HIP, shared how Medicaid coverage helped her recover from a rare spinal injury – and how she lost that care when work requirements were previously imposed.

“I wouldn’t be able to survive without it. But it’s so stressful, living in constant fear that the state will decide I don’t decide the medical care I need to survive.”

Writer Susan Brackney added: “When I hear about bills like SB 2, it feels like [lawmakers] don’t care if people like me live or die.”  

These stories – and the grassroots power behind them – worked.  

Community Catalyst played a critical role in connecting national strategy with local power to help defeat SB2 in Indiana. 

Working in close partnership with Hoosier Action, Altarum, and Community Change, we: 

• Led coordinated messaging development around the cost and harm of work requirements—grounded in our deep understanding of Medicaid policy and narrative strategy; 
• Provided rapid-response communications support, including social media graphics and tailored messaging that elevated local stories like Eliza’s and Susan’s to spotlight what’s at stake; 
• Delivered policy and political analysis to frame how SB2 would undermine Indiana’s progress under Medicaid expansion. 

Our unique contribution was in bridging national narrative strategy with local storytelling and organizing—ensuring partners had the right messages, data, and framing to drive action. 

This is what Community Catalyst does best: we turn complex policy into people-centered narratives, amplify local leadership, and build momentum that moves hearts, minds, and policy. 

A Win for Health Care, People, and the Economy

After community pressure, lawmakers removed some of the most harmful provisions of the bill: 

•  A 500,000-person membership cap to HIP was eliminated.  
• The three-year lifetime enrollment limit for HIP was dropped.  
• 30-day retroactive coverage was restored.  
• A majority of a proposed marketing ban on Medicaid outreach was struck down. 
• The final bill added protections for students and caregivers from work requirements.  

This local community organizing also resulted in the repeal of the state’s trigger law. So, they are no longer required to end the HIP program if there are changes to federal funding.  

Though quarterly checks and some work reporting requirements remain, Hoosiers protected Medicaid from devastating cuts – and preserved coverage for hundreds of thousands of people.  

What Happens in Indiana Doesn’t Stay in Indiana

This fight has national implications. The recent passage of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” guts Medicaid spending and more than 17 million people could now lose their coverage. Indiana’s story shows positive change is possible when communities organize.  

Across the country, similar bills and waivers are being proposed – in Kentucky, Idaho, Ohio, South Carolina, and beyond. In Idaho, lawmakers recently passed a bill adding work requirements and moving some residents off Medicaid and onto the state’s private marketplace. These efforts mirror SB 2. Proposals like these don’t just terminate care. They raise costs, deepen medical debt, and make it harder for people to live, work, and thrive.  

Take Action – Wherever You Are

The fight for health care is local and national.  

• Contact your representative and tell them: Hands off Medicaid.  
• Share your story on Soapboxx. 

When people organize, share their stories, and refuse to back down, lawmakers are forced to listen. What happened in Indiana is already inspiring other states – and it’s a blueprint for protecting health care everywhere. 

Fast Facts 

• 1 in 5 Hoosiers rely on Medicaid.  
• 752,339 were at risk of losing coverage. 
• Reinstated work requirements would have cost more – not less – to administer.