Indiana Medicaid Managed Care RFP Rebids All Four Programs
Indiana pulled its $68 billion Medicaid managed care RFP and will reissue it by November 9. New plants to take effect in 2029.
What the Indiana Medicaid managed care RFP covers
Indiana is rebidding all four of its Medicaid managed care programs in one RFP: the Healthy Indiana Plan, Hoosier Healthwise, Hoosier Care Connect and Indiana PathWays for Aging. Together they cover about 1.4 million members and, by FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob's estimate, about $68 billion in contracts. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration released RFP 27-88343 on August 27, 2026. The state intends to award all four programs to the same set of plans, and HMA reported that winning plans have to operate a Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan for PathWays members. If you enroll providers with Indiana Medicaid plans, the lineup you work with today may not be the one you work with in 2029.
On October 27, FSSA withdrew the RFP. The notice on the Indiana Department of Administration procurement page says the decision was made "to ensure compliance with IC 12-15-5-17.5(c)(2)," and that FSSA expects to reissue the RFP "in substantially the same form" after feedback from the State Budget Committee, most likely by November 9, 2026, with minimal changes to the timeline.
Who holds the Indiana Medicaid contracts today
The IHCP provider reference module lists the plans by program. Anthem, CareSource and Managed Health Services (MHS, a Centene plan) serve the Healthy Indiana Plan and Hoosier Healthwise. Anthem, MHS and UnitedHealthcare serve Hoosier Care Connect. Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealthcare serve PathWays for Aging. MDwise, which had about 300,000 HIP and Hoosier Healthwise members, left on January 1, 2026 after FSSA ended its contract.
RFP and contract dates
Under the withdrawn RFP, proposals were due November 6, 2026. The reissued RFP will set a new deadline. Award recommendations were targeted for July 2027, and the new contracts take effect January 1, 2029. That leaves about eighteen months between award and go-live for any plan that is new to a program to build its network.
How Indiana Medicaid members get reassigned
The state hasn't published transition rules for 2029. Those will come with the reissued RFP and the contracts that follow it. The closest example is how Indiana moved MDwise members at the start of this year, laid out in IHCP bulletin BT2025157. Members had from November 1 through December 24, 2025 to choose a remaining plan. Members who didn't choose were auto-assigned, and the assignment logic matched them to plans based on whether their existing primary medical provider was in the plan's network. Every assignment took effect January 1, 2026, and members could change plans for up to 90 days afterward. If the member's PMP was in the new plan's network, the member stayed with that PMP. If not, the member had 60 days to pick a new one before one was assigned.
Why network participation mattered in the MDwise move
Under those rules, a practice whose physicians were contracted with all three remaining plans kept its patients no matter where they were assigned. A practice missing from one plan's network had 60 days before those members were assigned a new PMP. For specialists, hospitals and ancillary providers the risk is the ordinary one: a plan that doesn't have you under contract on the day its members arrive processes your claims as out of network. New entrants will almost certainly require active IHCP enrollment before they look at a contract application, which is the prerequisite CareSource set for MDwise providers joining its network last winter. Indiana isn't the only state where the plan lineup is changing; Centene is leaving Hawaii's and Arkansas's Medicaid programs at the end of this year.
What to do now
- Pull the reissued RFP when it posts and read the network adequacy, credentialing turnaround and transition sections. Those will govern how quickly a new plan has to credential you and how members move in 2029. Put July 2027 and January 1, 2029 on the calendar, and plan to start applications with any newly awarded plan the month the award is announced rather than waiting for the plan to reach out. Medicaid MCO plans are notorious for extended completion of credentialing and contracting, so start early.
- Build a roster of every Indiana Medicaid provider and location you manage, with each one's participation status at Anthem, CareSource, MHS, UnitedHealthcare and Humana, so you know on award day how many contracts you'll need to add.
- Confirm that every provider's IHCP enrollment is active and that locations, ownership and NPI data are current. No plan will contract with a provider whose state enrollment has lapsed. CMS is also requiring off-cycle revalidation of high-risk Medicaid providers this year.
Questions about the Indiana Medicaid rebid
Which Indiana Medicaid programs are being rebid? All four managed care programs: the Healthy Indiana Plan, Hoosier Healthwise, Hoosier Care Connect and Indiana PathWays for Aging, in one RFP, with the state intending to award all four to the same plans.
Who are the current Indiana Medicaid managed care plans? Anthem, CareSource and MHS for HIP and Hoosier Healthwise; Anthem, MHS and UnitedHealthcare for Hoosier Care Connect; Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealthcare for PathWays for Aging.
When do the new Indiana Medicaid contracts start? January 1, 2029. Award recommendations were targeted for July 2027, and the state says the reissued RFP will make minimal changes to that timeline.
What happens to patients if their plan loses? Based on the MDwise transition, they get an open enrollment window to choose a remaining plan. Those who don't choose are auto-assigned, with the assignment favoring a plan that has their primary medical provider in network.
About the author
Tony Kuka · Founder, Ziurta
Tony is the founder of Ziurta, a provider enrollment platform for medical practices, health systems, RCM firms, and credentialing companies. He has 30 years in healthcare administration, including 20 building outsourced revenue cycle companies, and founded and sold Medical Business Office and National Credentialing Solutions. He is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.