Task force makes ‘broad’ recommendations on health care costs ahead of 2025 legislative session

High health care costs are a significant concern for Hoosiers and lawmakers. A legislative study committee tasked with exploring policies to address costs made six broad recommendations ahead of the 2025 legislative session.

The Health Care Cost Oversight Task Force approved its final report this year with several recommendations, such as monitoring the effect of previous legislation and maintaining quality of, and access to, care. The recommendations presented appear to be much less specific than last year’s recommendations.

Rep. Brad Barrett (R-Richmond), chair of the task force, said the value of interim study committee hearings has shifted in the past 10 to 15 years, so this year’s final report has “generalized, broad-based” findings.

“It was almost like the hearing before the hearing, but I see that that’s changed. And I look at this as informational,” Barrett said.

Most of the recommendations focused on continuing the work already done during previous sessions and keeping focus on health care costs.

Several new laws in the last few years have focused on increasing transparency as a strategy to lower health care costs in Indiana. This included, among other things, eliminating surprise billing and establishing the All-Payer Claims Database.

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Matt Bell, with Hoosiers for Affordable Healthcare, said these are steps in the right direction, but Indiana still isn’t improving.

“Transparency alone has not been enough to bend the curve because our prices in Indiana have remained stubbornly high when compared to prices in the rest of the nation,” Bell said.

One of the recommendations from this year calls for continued efforts to provide transparency among all “stakeholder groups.”

The task force made no recommendations on pharmacy benefits managers or transparency measures for pharmacy benefits managers, despite hours of testimony on the topic during each meeting this year. This included testimony from different parts of the pharmaceutical industry, including representatives from pharmacy benefits managers, pharmacists and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The recommendation also included continuing to “recognize independent practice as an important policy line.”

Abigail is our health reporter. Contact them at aruhman@wboi.org.