A missed renewal deadline can end your Indiana Medicaid coverage even when you still qualify. Federal law requires Indiana Medicaid, administered by the state's Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), to try to renew you automatically from data it already holds before it asks you for anything, but when a renewal packet does reach you, it has to come back on time.

Renew online at the FSSA Benefits Portal · Call the Division of Family Resources (DFR): 1-800-403-0864

Recertification is the recurring point at which the FSSA confirms you still qualify for Medicaid. Eligibility is set once at your initial application, but under federal renewal rules it is redetermined at least once every 12 months after that, and a missed renewal is a common way eligible people lose coverage. When a renewal closes for procedural reasons, the person usually remained eligible and simply did not return the packet in time, which is what the 90-day reconsideration window below is built to fix.

Inside FSSA, the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) is the single state Medicaid agency, and the Division of Family Resources (DFR) runs the eligibility casework renewals flow through. One Indiana-specific detail matters here: FSSA updates the income and asset standards it applies on March 1 each year, not January 1, so a packet you receive early in the year is measured against the figures taking effect that March.

In This Guide

The Indiana Medicaid recertification and renewal cycle

Under federal renewal rules, FSSA must redetermine eligibility for most members at least once every 12 months. Your renewal month is set when you are first approved and recurs in the same calendar month every year: approved in October, your renewal comes due each October. The one exception on the horizon is HIP expansion adults, who shift to a 6-month cycle for renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027 (see the 2027 changes section below).

Indiana renewals split into two procedural paths by eligibility category:

  • MAGI populations (Healthy Indiana Plan adults ages 19 to 64, children and pregnant members on Hoosier Healthwise, parent caretakers): renewed using Modified Adjusted Gross Income methodology, with no asset test. Income is verified through federal and state data sources, including Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service records and state wage data.
  • Non-MAGI populations (Aged, Blind, and Disabled; nursing-facility and HCBS-waiver members; Medicare Savings Programs): renewed under SSI-related methodology, which includes an asset test. Indiana is an income-cap state, so a long-term-care member's countable income is measured against the Special Income Level of $2,982 a month in 2026, and a single applicant is held to $2,000 in countable assets. Federal law requires the state to verify assets at every renewal through an Asset Verification System (Section 1940 of the Social Security Act), so non-MAGI renewals rarely clear automatically and usually require bank statements and a signed AVS authorization.

Ex parte renewal in Indiana

The most important federal rule in modern Medicaid renewal is the ex parte default at 42 CFR 435.916(b)(1). Before FSSA asks you for any information at renewal, it must try to redetermine your eligibility from reliable information it already holds, including electronic data sources. Only when it cannot renew on that basis may it request information from you.

In Indiana, ex parte renewal pulls from Social Security earnings and benefit records, IRS tax data, state wage records, and data from other benefit programs the household receives. If those sources confirm the member is still within the income limits for their category and nothing categorical has changed, the renewal processes automatically and the member gets a notice stating that coverage continues for another 12 months and no action is required. That notice generally arrives about a month before the renewal month.

When ex parte cannot confirm eligibility, FSSA comes back to the member for what is missing. If your eligibility is based on MAGI, federal law requires the agency to send a renewal form carrying the information it already has and to allow at least 30 days from the date of the renewal form to respond, supply anything missing, and sign. That clock runs from the date printed on the form, not the day it reaches your mailbox. For non-MAGI eligibility (age, disability, long-term services and supports, an MSP, or the medically needy pathway), federal rules let Indiana follow that same procedure, and the 90-day reconsideration window below, but require neither, so ask FSSA what applies to your case. Ex parte commonly fails when a renewal needs asset documentation that automated data cannot supply (ABD and long-term-care cases), when income does not appear in wage databases (self-employment, gig, or cash income), when the household changed, or when income sits close to the limit.

If you declare U.S. citizenship, U.S. national status, or a satisfactory immigration status and FSSA cannot promptly verify it, federal law (42 CFR 435.956) requires a reasonable opportunity period to produce documentation, ending at the earlier of verification or 90 days after the notice. During that period benefits may not be delayed, denied, reduced, or terminated for someone the agency otherwise finds eligible.

How to renew Indiana Medicaid

Under 42 CFR 435.916, a renewal may be submitted through any of the modes of application the agency offers, and the agency may not require an in-person interview to renew. In Indiana the fastest and most reliable channel is online through the FSSA Benefits Portal at fssabenefits.in.gov.

Channel Where Notes
Online fssabenefits.in.gov Fastest; real-time confirmation and document upload; recommended
Phone DFR 1-800-403-0864 Renewals, packet requests, and status; hold times can be long
Mail Local DFR office (address on the packet) Allow several days for processing after receipt
In person Any local DFR office Find your office through the FSSA Benefits Portal

The FSSA Benefits Portal is the statewide account for Indiana benefits: through it you can view your case, update contact information, upload documents, complete a renewal, and check a pending action's status. For the full application walkthrough, see how to apply for Indiana Medicaid.

The 90-day reconsideration window

If your coverage closed because you missed the renewal paperwork, you usually do not have to start over.

Under 42 CFR 435.916(a)(3)(iii), if you lose Medicaid for failure to return the renewal form (a procedural termination, not an eligibility-based one), FSSA must reconsider your eligibility and treat the late-returned form as the renewal if you submit it within 90 days of the termination, without requiring a new application (required for MAGI-based coverage; a state option otherwise). If you are found still eligible, your coverage is restored.

The clock starts on the termination date, not the notice date, so read your closure notice carefully.

To use the window, submit the renewal form through any channel above. If you no longer have the form, call DFR at 1-800-403-0864 or use the FSSA Benefits Portal to request a new packet, and note the closure date when you submit so DFR routes the case correctly.

HIP renewals and the POWER account

The Healthy Indiana Plan is Indiana's Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion pathway for non-disabled adults ages 19 to 64 with family income below roughly 138% of the federal poverty level (technically 133% plus a 5% disregard). Because HIP is a MAGI category, its renewals use income data and apply no asset test. For a single adult in 2026, the monthly income limit is $1,835.50 for HIP Plus and $1,330.00 for HIP Basic.

HIP renewals run on the same annual ex parte cycle, and HIP income is often confirmable from wage data, so ex parte works well here. Two HIP-specific points matter:

  • Personal Wellness and Responsibility (POWER) account contributions. HIP Plus members make monthly POWER account contributions based on income. Falling behind on contributions is a separate risk from the annual renewal, and it can affect which HIP benefit package you hold.
  • The 6-month cycle starting in 2027. HIP expansion adults are exactly the population the 2025 federal budget law moves to a 6-month redetermination cycle for renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027 (see the 2027 changes section).

Children and postpartum coverage

Section 5112 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 requires every state to give children under age 19 on Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) 12 months of continuous eligibility from the date of enrollment, effective January 1, 2024. Once an Indiana child is enrolled, coverage is locked in for 12 months regardless of a rise in family income. If a parent loses coverage mid-year because household income went up, the children stay covered until their next annual renewal.

Limited exceptions allow mid-year termination: the child turns 19, moves out of state, dies, the family voluntarily disenrolls, or there is fraud. A parent worried about rising income should still report it accurately; the children keep coverage through their 12-month period either way.

Indiana also provides Medicaid postpartum coverage for a full 12 months after the end of pregnancy under the state option made permanent for states by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. Coverage continues through that period regardless of income changes, and the annual renewal cycle resumes after it ends.

Long-term care and waiver renewals

If you receive Medicaid long-term care, whether in a nursing facility or through a home- and community-based waiver, your renewal has two independent parts, and both must stay current.

The financial redetermination is run by DFR on the annual 12-month cycle and includes the asset test that federal law requires the state to run through the Asset Verification System. For institutional and waiver members it reviews income (Social Security, pensions, other sources), countable assets against the $2,000 single limit, and, for a nursing-facility resident, the post-eligibility share-of-cost calculation that leaves a $52 monthly Personal Needs Allowance plus spousal and health-insurance allowances. Because Indiana is an income-cap state, a member whose income exceeds the Special Income Level of $2,982 a month keeps eligibility only through a Qualified Income Trust (Miller Trust), and the trust deposits must continue through the renewal.

The level-of-care reassessment is the second part. Indiana delivers waiver long-term care through two 1915(c) waivers that replaced the former Aged and Disabled Waiver on July 1, 2024: the Indiana PathWays for Aging Waiver for members 60 and older and the Health and Wellness Waiver for those 59 and under. To keep waiver coverage, a member must continue to meet a nursing-facility level of care. One of Indiana's 16 Area Agencies on Aging makes the initial level-of-care determination when a member first seeks waiver services, and level of care is reassessed while the member remains on the waiver. The two reviews are independent: a member can pass the financial redetermination and fail the level-of-care review, or the reverse. If level of care is no longer met, waiver coverage ends but the member may continue on standard ABD Medicaid if otherwise eligible. For the full framework, see Indiana Medicaid HCBS waivers and Indiana Medicaid long-term care.

Members 60 and older receive these services through PathWays for Aging, the statewide managed program launched July 1, 2024, but the financial renewal still runs through DFR.

Returned mail and address changes

A renewal packet returned to DFR as undeliverable can lead to a termination. The federal rule requiring FSSA to search for a new address first, 42 CFR 435.919, was removed effective July 31, 2026. Federal law now says only that the agency may act without advance notice when your whereabouts are unknown (42 CFR 431.213(d)), and that coverage must be reinstated if your whereabouts become known while you are still eligible (42 CFR 431.231(d)). Indiana may still have its own procedures, so call DFR if your mail has come back.

Indiana delivers most Medicaid through managed care, and your plan keeps its own address file, separate from the DFR case record, so update both. The plans by program are:

Program Who it serves Health plans
Healthy Indiana Plan Adults 19 to 64 (expansion) Anthem, CareSource, Managed Health Services
Hoosier Healthwise Children and pregnant members Anthem, CareSource, Managed Health Services
Hoosier Care Connect Aged, blind, and disabled members Anthem, Managed Health Services, UnitedHealthcare
PathWays for Aging Members 60 and older (long-term services) Anthem, Humana, UnitedHealthcare

To avoid a returned-mail closure after a move: update your address through the FSSA Benefits Portal or by calling DFR at 1-800-403-0864, update it with your managed-care plan, and file a change-of-address form with the post office.

Procedural vs eligibility-based termination

This distinction decides whether you have a 90-day reconsideration window under 42 CFR 435.916 (required for MAGI-based coverage; a state option otherwise) or must file a new application.

Termination type What it means Reconsideration available?
Procedural Renewal form not returned, missing signature, no documentation, or no response to a request Yes; 90 days from the termination date
Eligibility-based FSSA determined you no longer meet income, asset, residency, or categorical rules No; file a new application or appeal

When a termination notice arrives, read the stated reason. Wording like "failure to provide requested information" or "no response to renewal" means you have the 90-day window. A reason referencing an income calculation, an asset limit, or a categorical change means your remedy is a new application, an appeal, or both.

Fair hearing rights in Indiana

If your renewal is denied or your coverage terminated, you have a federal right to a fair hearing under 42 CFR 431.220. Federal law caps the request window at 90 days from the date the notice is mailed and bars a state from requiring less than that. Indiana sets a shorter operational deadline: you must file a written appeal by close of business within 33 days of the date of the notice or the action, whichever is later, so do not wait.

Indiana appeals are heard by an administrative law judge at the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings (OALP), which in 2024 took over the FSSA hearings formerly handled by the Office of Hearings and Appeals. How you appeal depends on the action:

Keeping benefits during the appeal. Under 42 CFR 431.230, your Medicaid continues during the appeal only if you request the hearing before the action takes effect, after the agency's required advance notice. One Indiana-specific caveat for HIP: a HIP Plus or HIP State Plan Plus member must keep making the monthly POWER account contribution during the appeal to keep those benefits. For the full appeal process, see Indiana Medicaid appeals and fair hearings.

What changes in 2027: 6-month HIP renewals

Section 71107 of the 2025 federal budget-reconciliation law (H.R.1, Public Law 119-21) requires states to redetermine eligibility once every 6 months, rather than every 12 months, for the ACA expansion-adult population, for renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027, with work-requirement verification layered on. Its only exemption covers an Indian or Urban Indian as defined in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, a California Indian, and anyone otherwise determined eligible as an Indian for the Indian Health Service. Other enrollees stay on the standard 12-month cycle. Because Indiana adopted expansion through HIP, this reaches the state directly: HIP's expansion adults are the population that shifts to twice-a-year renewals.

The same 2025 law also shortens retroactive eligibility for applications filed on or after January 1, 2027, to two months before the application month for most enrollees and one month for the expansion group, down from the long-standing three-month default. The lesson is sharper, not different: more frequent renewals mean more packets to catch, and ignoring one turns a still-eligible household into a procedural termination.

Common Indiana Medicaid recertification mistakes

  1. Ignoring the renewal packet because the envelope looks like junk mail. Pull anything from FSSA, DFR, or your managed-care plan out of the mail pile and open it right away.
  2. Assuming ex parte will handle everything. Ex parte succeeds for only a share of renewals; the rest require the packet back by the deadline printed on the form.
  3. Not knowing the 90-day reconsideration window exists. A procedural closure can be reconsidered within 90 days with the renewal form and no new application (required for MAGI-based coverage; a state option otherwise).
  4. Missing the asset verification signature for ABD or long-term care. Without your AVS authorization, DFR cannot run the bank-record check and the renewal stalls.
  5. Assuming children lose coverage when a parent does. Children under 19 keep coverage for their full 12-month continuous-eligibility period regardless of family income changes.
  6. Missing Indiana's 33-day appeal deadline. The federal ceiling is 90 days, but Indiana requires a written appeal within 33 days of the notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often do I have to renew Indiana Medicaid?

Once every 12 months for most members, in the same calendar month each year, tied to your initial approval date. Federal renewal rules require a redetermination at least once every 12 months for ongoing eligibility. One change is coming: HIP expansion adults move to a 6-month cycle for renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027.

What is ex parte renewal?

Ex parte renewal means FSSA uses data it already has (Social Security, IRS, and wage records) to confirm your eligibility without asking you for anything. If it succeeds, you get a notice that coverage continues for another 12 months with no action required. You do not apply for ex parte; the state attempts it as the first step of every renewal.

What happens if I miss my Indiana Medicaid renewal deadline?

Your coverage closes at the end of your renewal month. If the closure was procedural, you have a 90-day reconsideration window under 42 CFR 435.916 to submit the renewal and have your eligibility reconsidered without a new application, and coverage is restored if you are found still eligible (required for MAGI-based coverage; a state option otherwise). Miss the 90 days and you must file a new application through the FSSA Benefits Portal.

Where do I submit my Indiana Medicaid renewal?

The fastest way is online at the FSSA Benefits Portal (fssabenefits.in.gov), which gives real-time confirmation and document upload. You can also call DFR at 1-800-403-0864, or mail or bring the form to your local DFR office.

I am on HIP. What is different about my renewal?

HIP renewals run on the same annual ex parte cycle, but HIP Plus members must stay current on their monthly POWER account contributions, which is a separate risk from the renewal itself. Starting with renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027, HIP expansion adults renew every 6 months.

My mail was returned. Will Indiana close my case automatically?

Federal law no longer answers that. The rule requiring FSSA to search for a new address first, 42 CFR 435.919, was removed effective July 31, 2026. What remains is that the agency may act without advance notice when your whereabouts are unknown (42 CFR 431.213(d)), and that coverage must be reinstated if your whereabouts become known while you are still eligible (42 CFR 431.231(d)). Indiana may still have its own procedures, so update your address through the FSSA Benefits Portal or DFR and ask what happens to your case.

Can I appeal if my renewal is denied?

Yes. Federal law caps the request window at 90 days from the notice date, but Indiana requires a written appeal within 33 days of the notice or action. If you request the hearing before the action takes effect, your Medicaid continues pending the decision; HIP Plus members must keep paying their POWER account contribution to keep those benefits. Appeals are heard by an administrative law judge at the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings.

Indiana Medicaid renewal: contacts and resources

These offices handle renewals, reconsiderations, and appeals.

FSSA Benefits Portal Renew online, upload documents, update your address, and check case status. fssabenefits.in.gov
Division of Family Resources Renewals by phone, packet requests, address updates, and case status. 1-800-403-0864
Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings Fair hearings on FSSA and Medicaid actions. Email: fssa.appeals@oalp.in.gov in.gov/oalp/resources-for-fssa-appeals

If you are unsure whether your renewal has been processed, log in to the FSSA Benefits Portal to check your case status, or call DFR at 1-800-403-0864. Brevy's guides to Indiana Medicaid eligibility and income limits, how to apply for Indiana Medicaid, and the Indiana Medicaid hub cover the broader eligibility picture and help you tell whether you remain eligible at renewal or whether a categorical change applies.

Learn More

MedicaidIndiana Medicaid hubIndiana Medicaid covers long-term care through FSSA in 2026. PathWays for Aging, income-cap rules, Miller Trust, spousal protections, and how to apply. MedicaidHow to apply for Indiana MedicaidApply for Indiana Medicaid online, in person at a local DFR office, by mail, or by phone, plus Miller Trust rules, documents, timelines, and appeals. MedicaidIndiana Medicaid eligibility and income limitsSee the 2026 Indiana Medicaid income limits and asset rules. Indiana is an income-cap state, so over-income applicants need a Miller Trust to qualify for care. MedicaidIndiana Medicaid appeals and fair hearingsHow to appeal an Indiana Medicaid denial, reduction, or termination, keep your benefits during the appeal, and request a fair hearing before an OALP judge. MedicaidIndiana Medicaid HCBS waiversIndiana Medicaid HCBS waivers pay for home and community care at a nursing-facility level: the PathWays for Aging Waiver and the Health and Wellness Waiver. MedicaidIndiana Medicaid long-term care and nursing homesHow Indiana Medicaid nursing home coverage works in 2026: the income cap and Miller Trust, the asset limit, share of cost, and spousal protections.

Find personalized help navigating your Indiana Medicaid renewal at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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