Gov. Braun taking bold action on Health Care Affordability, Transparency, and Rural Access

High health care costs are a weight on Hoosiers' wallets, and Governor Mike Braun is taking decisive action to make health care in Indiana more affordable, transparent, and accessible. 

Today, Governor Braun highlighted major healthcare wins so far this year, including protecting Hoosiers from medical debt and building a pipeline of doctors to serve rural Indiana. 

“Healthcare costs and medical debt are a major burden on too many Hoosier families, and I am taking action to make health care in Indiana more affordable, transparent, and accessible. We are protecting patients from unfair medical debt collection, requiring hospitals to connect patients with payment assistance before sending bills to collections, and strengthening the pipeline of future doctors serving rural Indiana. These are concrete steps to fix the broken health care system making it harder for Hoosiers to make ends meet at the kitchen table.” - Governor Mike Braun 

Reforming Healthcare and Lowering Costs

Governor Braun identified medical debt as a driver of financial strain for Hoosier families and pushed for reforms to protect patients before bills ever reach collections.

• HEA 1271 requires hospitals to provide patients with written notice about payment assistance programs and to make a reasonable effort to connect patients with those programs before beginning the collections process.
• SEA 225 strengthens medical debt protections by barring hospitals from pursuing medical debt collection unless they are in compliance with Indiana’s requirements related to financial assistance, charity care, and reporting. The measure also allows patients to raise hospital noncompliance as an affirmative defense in court.

Together, these reforms crack down on unfair medical debt practices, increase accountability for hospitals, and help ensure Hoosiers have a fair chance to access available financial assistance before being pushed into collections.

Strengthening Indiana’s Rural Healthcare Workforce

Governor Braun also took action to strengthen the pipeline of healthcare professionals serving rural Indiana to increase access to medical care.

• HEA 1358 requires medical students to complete a rural health rotation and receive education on the role of nutrition in health. The rural rotation requirement gives future doctors firsthand exposure to rural communities and helps build the pipeline of physicians interested in serving these areas.

By expanding rural exposure, this legislation supports better access to care and better long-term health outcomes for Hoosiers.

Building on Governor Braun’s Foundation of Action on Health Care

These solutions build on last year’s historic progress on improving health care access and affordability, with 9 new major reform laws to lower health care prices and make the industry more accountable and competitive, including:

• Ending anti-competitive business practices by pharmacy benefit managers that drive up the prices of prescription drugs.
• Making clear that PBMs and third-party administrators have a duty to act in the best interest of their plan sponsors.
• Ending the anticompetitive practice of hospitals forcing doctors into noncompete agreements.  
• Putting patients first with a package of solutions to end surprise medical bills, prohibit insurers from denying coverage because the patient was referred by an out-of-network provider, and protecting your right to know what you will have to pay before you have to pay it.