Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTop Trump administration officials Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz will join Indiana Gov. Mike Braun in Indianapolis this week to roll out a new “Make Indiana Healthy Again” initiative.
The trio will discuss details of the state’s public health campaign at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Indiana State Library downtown. The event will be livestreamed on the Governor’s YouTube page.
Braun’s new initiative borrows from Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan, which Kennedy borrowed from President Donald Trump’s campaign tagline. Additional details about the initiative have not yet been released.
Trump selected Kennedy as his health secretary and Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Kennedy’s platform includes reducing ultra-processed food consumption, eliminating vaccine requirements and rolling back fluoride recommendations. Altogether, he has said it would reduce widespread chronic illness.
Oz said during his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month—in response to a question from Indiana Sen. Todd Young—that “it is our patriotic duty to be healthy,” NPR reported. Oz added that “it also costs a lot of money to take care of sick people who are sick because of lifestyle choices.”
Since his time in the U.S. Senate, Braun has criticized the health care industry for high prices and a lack of transparency. As Indiana governor, he’s supported Hoosier legislation and signed executive orders seeking to increase pricing clarity and encouraging lower prices.
Indiana has ranked poorly in national health rankings for years. The 2024 United Health Foundation annual report ranked Indiana 36th overall for health, with higher-than-national rates of obesity, smoking and e-cigarette use, diagnoses of multiple chronic conditions and drug-related deaths.
In recent budget cycles, Indiana lawmakers shifted their approach to preventative funding for health care, but that support has tapered slightly in recent years.
In 2023, the Legislature set aside $225 million over 2024-25 for local public health investments as a means to improve Hoosiers’ health outcomes. However, the current proposed budget reduces that investment to $100 million each year for 2026-27.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
As a health care professional and a native Hoosier, all that I have seen from the State is total lack of interest for the health of the citizens of our State.
1. Public health initiatives are inadequately designed and poorly funded by the State.
2. There is a total lack of all types of healthcare providers and healthcare staff. The State is doing nothing to increase the number of healthcare workers of all types.
3. The State is doing nothing to increase the of number of physicians (MD and DO) by not encouraging both Purdue and Notre Dame to develop their own medical school. [All of our surrounding States have more allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools than Indiana.]
4. The State is not supporting more primary care residency programs (e.g. Internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics) for our State.
5. The State is going out of its ways to gut Medicaid.
6. The State lacks the medical expertise and accepts the prejudices of those in charge of health at the Federal level.
7. This is just a superficial summary of why the health of Hoosiers is so bad and is going to get worse over the next 4 years
Having OZ and Kennedy come to support the anti-health campaign of Braun is a slap in the face of the citizens of our State.
Phillip D. Toth, MD, FACP
Well said, Dr Toth!
You didn’t mention the migration of OB/GYN specialists since a ban on women’s health care went into effect in Indiana.
I would also be nice to mention how Braun is directly responsible for gutting the state’s Medicaid coverage. More than 350,000 Hoosiers that will lose Medicaid coverage when the new Republican Federal Budget, that Braun voted for, goes into effect because cuts in the Federal Medicaid Budget trigger automatic cuts in the state Medicaid Budget.
This is just outright laughable. Three people, none whom have any lifetime experience in health issues, wanting us to believe they know best. Unbelievable, and pathetic as well. Simply mindblowing.
After five years of Fauci and Bourla, we’re better off heeding medical advice from Alex Jones, let alone RFK Jr.
Just remember: the latest public health scourge is ***gasp*** measles! Heaven forfend. I mean, it must be true if Reuters tells us so.
Nothing more pro-life than letting your kids die of a disease that was eradicated in this country years ago.
Just wait until we bring back polio. That’ll be pretty cool, won’t it? That’ll show the libs.
You used to be better at this, sweetie.
A Quirk A Quack and a Know-it All .
Idiocracy used to just be a movie – now we live it
Does anyone know the details of the campaign? It could result is a healthier state. We don’t know yet.
It looks like IBJ just republished a propaganda, sorry, press release.
We know who and what RFK Jr. is. We also know who and what Dr. Oz is. And we know who and what Gov. Bruan is. What more do we need to know?
Sure, the same governor who is behind the efforts to limit the number of Hoosiers who can be on the Healthy Indiana Plan is really truly, deeply about a healthier state.
And the same Legislature who passed on increasing spending on pregnant women while implementing a zero-second abortion ban … is also really interested in a healthier state.
And when it was time to cut spending to pay for yet more tax cuts, one of the first places was cutting spending towards county health departments. Because, clearly, that $50 million spread across 92 counties was excessive.
I guess you could pretend to give people the benefit of the doubt and pretend you need more info. Do five seconds of research and the outcome is clear. If it takes the spending of one red cent (and it clearly would to get any meaningful changes) it ain’t gonna happen.
https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/03/24/what-does-the-future-hold-for-public-health-funding/
Surely ye jest!
Will they meet in Allen County?
Apparently the Governor has taken the “Hypocrite” oath, proclaiming “Make IN Healthy Again” (not sure it was ever healthy to begin with), when he and his party have obstructed rationale steps to decrease tobacco consumption, promote physical fitness, expand access to care for those who have the worst health risks, and attract newly minted physicians and advanced practice providers to the state. Splashy events and catchy slogans mean nothing as IN’s health statistics continue to trail 80% of the country.