The Trump administration’s recent announcement that it plans to eliminate about 3,500 FDA jobs is creating uncertainty among Indianapolis-area companies that interact with the federal agency.
State lawmakers had their final (and for some, especially long) meetings this week as they returned to some of the last and thorniest bills left on their plates.
An Indiana Senate committee voted to amend a bill targeting the cost of health care at nonprofit hospitals, with the new version freezing prices but not imposing penalties for two years.
Baked in the 21-page measure are new rules for contacts awarded by state agencies—including a ban on non-public, no-bid deals—and steeper expectations for vendors paid with taxpayer dollars.
Under Senate Bill 2, those enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan will need to either work or volunteer for 20 hours each week, with several exceptions for caregivers, disabled beneficiaries and more.
Prior authorization serves an important purpose. It is one of the few tools to keep health care costs in check, ensuring that treatments are medically necessary and cost-effective.
Several of the session’s most important pieces of legislation—including bills affecting the budget, property tax relief and health care transparency—will be heard, amended and passed out of committee next week.
A bill that would tighten Medicaid eligibility and add work requirements for certain programs was amended and passed out of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee in just under an hour on Wednesday.
Planned Parenthood said nine of its affiliates, including the one that covers Indiana, received notice that the administration would withhold funding from Title X, the nationwide family-planning program.
Hoosiers need access to affordable and cost-effective services, providers need timely payment for services rendered and consumers should have a choice in their health care.
