Section 1115 of the Social Security Act gives the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services authority to approve experimental, pilot, or demonstration projects that promote the objectives of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Both Michigan and Indiana opted to use a Section 1115 demonstration waiver to implement their respective programs. While both programs were implemented to provide coverage to parents and childless adults up to 133% FPL under a 1115 waiver, the programs were implemented using different characteristics.

This article first appeared in the July issue of In The Public Interest, the Society of Actuaries newsletter for its Social Insurance and Public Finance Section.