In a place where there can be no love lost, Rep. Vernon G. Smith, D-Gary, took a moment to celebrate love by distributing Valentine’s Day stuffed animals to legislators on both sides of the aisle.
But after the pink bears and bandana-wearing dogs were happily displayed on desks, it was back to business as usual.
A number of bills read in the House on Thursday would impact Hoosier health care, with a common theme being accessibility and affordability.
House Bill 1024 received bipartisan support and will continue to the Senate, sponsored by Sens. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, and Mike Bohacek, R-Michigan Shores. The author, Rep. Harold Slager, R-Shererville, explained that the bill would continue Medicaid reimbursement for some children’s hospitals in neighboring states.
“This is a really popular program, and interestingly, the cost is not that high,” said Slager.
Rep. Earl L. Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, was one of the members who spoke in support of the bill. He shared a personal anecdote of a young cousin who had to come from Northwest Indiana to Indianapolis to receive proper medical care. This was before the law, which would have allowed the child to visit a closer hospital in Chicago.
“This has been a great move,” said Harris. The bill passed with 91 yea votes and zero nays.
House Bill 1555 aims to expand health-care accessibility for Hoosiers by allowing limited medical licensure to those who were trained internationally. The providers would need to meet certain criteria, and after five years of practice, the board may choose to provide them an unlimited license.
“House Bill 1555 is an important step towards addressing two critical challenges in our health care system: rising costs and the ongoing shortage of medical professionals, particularly in rural and underserved communities,” Rep. Beau Baird, R-Greencastle, the bill’s author, said.
The bill received 91 yeas and one nay from Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend. It will be sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, Susan Glick, R-LaGrange and Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis.
House Bill 1666 by Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis, would require more transparency from health-care providers in relation to ownership. It would require a merger review through a board, which would approve or deny merger requests. This process would have a 90-day limit.
“Patients, providers and the public need to trust that health-care decisions are made based on the best interest of the patient, rather than hidden financial motives,” said McGuire.
Rep. Maureen Baur, D-South Bend, spoke in opposition to the bill, raising concerns about specific measures it has outlined.
“While transparency in health care is essential, this bill introduced some measures that could have unintended and detrimental consequences for our state’s health-care system,” said Baur. She highlighted smaller and specialty health-care providers as particularly vulnerable to the review process and the burden it may place on them.
Rep. DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, also spoke in opposition to the bill.
“I understand that there’s a real desire to deal with medical costs. We have bill after bill, year after year, to deal with it. My belief is, we do not have, as a state, the economic, political, legal power to effectively touch that market,” said DeLaney.
Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, is one of the co-authors on the bill.
“We want to discover conflicts of interest,” he said of the bill’s intentions. “If a merger doesn’t get approved, there’s a reason for that.”
The bill passed with 70 yeas and 25 nays. Senate sponsors are Sens. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, Chris Garten, R-Scottsburg, and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.
