(Indianapolis, IN) – Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed nine executive orders on Wednesday. He says these are all aimed at improving the state’s healthcare system, focusing on reducing costs, increasing access, and enhancing transparency.
These orders are part of Braun’s commitment to providing quality healthcare for Indiana residents without breaking the bank. The governor previously issued executive orders eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and ending remote work for state employees.
The executive orders that Braun signed on Wednesday include:
25-20: Faithful execution of pro-life laws
–Directs the Indiana Department of Health to ensure compliance with state pro-life laws, including reporting on terminated pregnancies, to make sure certain state laws are followed and enforced.
25-21: Improve price transparency
Directs state agencies to enhance price transparency across healthcare services, empowering Hoosiers with clear, upfront pricing to make informed decisions.
25-22: Hospital charity care
Calls for an evaluation of the value of nonprofit hospital charity care compared to the tax savings these hospitals receive, ensuring these institutions fulfill their commitment to public service.
25-23: Healthcare affordability measures
Directs state agencies to prioritize tackling surprise billing, pharmacy benefit managers and high drug prices to make healthcare more affordable for Hoosiers.
25-24: Assessing waste, fraud and abuse
Directs the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the State Personnel Department to conduct independent audits of healthcare expenditures in Medicaid and the State Employee Health Plan respectively, and report findings in order to root out inefficiencies and misuse of taxpayer dollars.
25-25: Health and family services dashboard
Directs the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to develop an interactive dashboard to streamline healthcare programs, reduce redundancy and improve the quality and cost of care for Hoosiers.
25-26: Agency data sharing
Encourages state agencies to collaborate and share data to improve efficiency and ensure better outcomes for Hoosiers.
25-27: 340B program
Directs state agencies to examine the use of the 340B program by hospitals in order to make sure participating facilities are eligible for the program and serving needy populations, and to ensure the system is not exploited for profit.
25-28: Split risk pools
Directs the Department of Insurance to take steps necessary to allow health insurers to offer split risk pools for insurance, providing Hoosiers with more tailored and cost-effective insurance plans.
Indiana Democratic Party Spokesperson Sam Barloga said the following about the executive orders:
“On the 52nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, Governor Mike Braun has further restricted the medical privacy of Hoosier women and families by ordering the release of individual terminated pregnancy reports. These reports can give away identifying information about the women who received care under the very narrow exceptions to Indiana’s abortion ban, including those suffering life-threatening complications and victims of rape and incest. These are the same reports that Indiana’s public access counselor said should not be released because of the ability to ‘reverse engineer’ the identifying information of individual Hoosiers,” said Barloga.
Indiana Right to Life President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Fichter had this to say.
“Governor Braun’s action today ensures Indiana’s abortion law will be enforced under his administration. In directing the Indiana Department of Health to ensure compliance with pro-life laws, including reporting laws, abortion providers are on notice that there is no tolerance in Indiana for illegal abortions, or acts leading to the injury or deaths of women. We are thankful for Governor Braun’s swift and decisive move in support of Indiana’s law that has ended 98% of abortions in our state,” said Fichter.
(Story by Network Indiana)
