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Indiana lawmakers introduced five bills aimed at addressing the high cost of health care, but only two were passed after months of debate and testimony from industry experts and lobbyists. The state’s economy relies heavily on the health care industry, which makes up nearly 15 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. One of the bills passed was Senate Bill 7, which bans noncompete agreements for primary care physicians only, leaving other medical specialists vulnerable to such agreements. The second bill passed was House Bill 1004, which bans “facility fees” hospitals sometimes add to medical bills. However, the original proposal to fine hospitals that charged higher than a certain benchmark was removed, and the new law will only require the state to collect information when a hospital charges higher than 285 percent of Medicare, starting in November 2024. The bill that failed to pass was House Bill 1003, which aimed to crack down on the insurance industry’s use of “prior authorization,” a process that requires physicians to obtain approval from the insurance company before providing certain health services to patients.
