Anthem to cut Medicaid coverage for Meridian Health Services

ANDERSON — A major national health insurance provider will soon drop coverage of Medicaid clients at Meridian Health Services, leaving some of those clients to look elsewhere for health care.

Anthem will stop paying for Medicaid clients’ services at Meridian as of July 25, but will operate as usual on behalf of its Medicare, commercial and privately-insured clients using Meridian services.

Meridian operates clinics in 87 locations in Indiana, including Anderson and Muncie. The primary Anderson location is at 1547 Ohio Ave.

According to a press release from Meridian, the Anthem change will mean that about 18,000 children and adults who use Medicaid will not be able to access Meridian’s services, which include behavioral and primary care.

CEO Seth Warren said Anthem did not explain its reason for discontinuing Medicaid coverage for Meridian clients, but he said he suspects costs were a factor.

According to Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration, Meridian last year charged a flat fee (known as a PPS rate) of about $625 per Medicaid service appointment, the highest rate among the 40 federally qualified health centers in Indiana and about $300 more than the average PPS rate among those health centers.

Medicaid reimburses health centers $100 per visit, leaving insurance providers to pay the vast majority of the bill in most cases.

Federally qualified health centers provide comprehensive healthcare to qualified clients regardless of insurance coverage and ability to pay.

Meridian is one of three federally qualified health centers in Madison County. The others are Aspire and Jane Pauley Community Health Center.

Aspire’s PPS rate in 2025 was $250 and Jane Pauley’s was about $400. Rates are impacted by, among other factors, the range of services offered and the health care needs of the population served by the health center.

Warren attributes the higher per visit fee at Meridian to its size and wide range of services, which include mental health care.

In response to a request from The Herald Bulletin for comment on dropping insurance coverage of Medicaid clients at Meridian, an Anthem spokesperson sent the following statement:

“We routinely evaluate our provider networks to ensure they meet the unique needs of our diverse member populations. ... When we make these changes, we provide advance notice, help members find alternative in-network providers, and work to minimize disruptions in care.”

Meridian is one of two Indiana health care providers to be removed from Anthem’s Medicaid client coverage. Columbus Regional Hospital is the other.

Anthem is continuing to provide Medicare and employer-sponsored services to Columbus Regional, an spokesman for Anthem noted.

© 2026 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.). Visit www.theheraldbulletin.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.