An official State of Texas website.
Revision 18-1; Effective March 1, 2018
The HIPP program is a Medicaid benefit that helps families pay for employer-sponsored health insurance.
To qualify for HIPP, an employee must either be Medicaid eligible or have a family member who is Medicaid eligible. The HIPP program may pay for individuals and their family members who receive, or have access to, employer-sponsored health insurance benefits when it is determined that the cost of insurance premiums is less than the cost of projected Medicaid expenditures.
Note: An employee and the employee's Medicaid-eligible family member must be enrolled in the employer-sponsored health insurance in order to receive HIPP reimbursements.
Medicaid-eligible HIPP enrollees do not have to pay out-of-pocket deductibles, co-payments, or co-insurance for health care services that Medicaid covers when seeing a provider that accepts Medicaid. Instead, Medicaid reimburses providers for these expenses.
HIPP enrollees who are not Medicaid eligible must pay deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance required under the employer's group health insurance policy.
Report individuals who are potentially eligible for HIPP on Form H1039, Medical Insurance Input. Send Form H1039 to HHSC's Third Party Resource (TPR) Unit, Mail Code 1354, or send via email to: MCD_Third_Party@hhsc.state.tx.us.
For the Medicaid Buy-In for Children (MBIC) program, when employer-sponsored insurance is entered into the Texas Integrated Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS), this information is automatically sent to HIPP. HIPP eligibility does impact the MBIC premium amount. See Section N-7400, Premium Amounts.
HHSC's TPR Unit refers Form H1039 to the current state Medicaid contractor, TMHP. If TMHP determines it is cost-effective for Medicaid to pay the individual's employer-sponsored health insurance premiums, then TMHP sends:
- a letter to the individual and requests verification of the employer-sponsored insurance plan and premium payments; and
- a premium reimbursement to the individual upon receipt of complete documentation and proof of the premium payment.
Note: Because an employer-sponsored health insurance premium deduction has already been counted as part of the recipient's income, a HIPP reimbursement check sent to recipients by TMHP is not income. Do not consider an incurred medical deduction for the reimbursed premium as income for recipients participating in HIPP.
TMHP will terminate HIPP enrollment if the individual is no longer enrolled in health insurance coverage or fails to provide TMHP with the information needed to determine cost effectiveness or proof of premium payments.
For more information about the HHSC's HIPP program, see HHSC's website: https://hhs.texas.gov/services/financial/health-insurance-premium-payment-hipp-program, or contact the Medicaid HIPP program at MCD_HIPP_Program@hhsc.state.tx.us.
Individuals may call 800-440-0493 for more information. Individuals may also visit the HIPP website at https://hhs.texas.gov/services/financial/health-insurance-premium-payment-hipp-program.