INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's cigarette tax funded health insurance plan for the working poor has run out of slots for childless adults.

The Healthy Indiana Plan has hit a 34,000 cap for non-parents set by federal regulators, the state Family and Social Services Administration announced Wednesday. Space remains available or parents and caretakers of dependent children.

"We are excited we have enrolled approximately 49,000 Hoosiers in HIP. However, we are not allowed to cover more childless adults at this time," said FSSA Secretary Anne Murphy. "This limit could not come at a worse time for Hoosiers, when we know so many are hurting. It is regrettable that we do not have the ability to enroll more clients who are in need of health coverage."

Most state-federal Medicaid health insurance programs cover poor children and pregnant women but to provide coverage to their parents or to childless adults.

The Healthy Indiana Plan, primarily funded by a 44-cent cigarette tax hike approved in 2007, was designed to bridge that gap. It serves more than 4,200 residents of Lake County and 675 from Porter County.

The program is open to working Hoosiers who cannot purchase health insurance through their employers and earn up to double the federal poverty line, or $20,800 annually for a single person. Childless adults who apply now will be placed on a waiting list.