Issue 19

Enroll Now: 5th RAND Hospital Price Transparency Study

We’re still accepting participants in RAND 5.0! If you participated in a prior year’s study or are a new employer, health plan, business coalition, all-payer-claims database, or organization that has employer hospital claims, please enroll by following the link below. We have master data use agreements with Anthem, UnitedHealthcare, and other plans to streamline employer data transfer to RAND. After filling out the link below, a RAND project manager will reach out with instructions. It is that easy!

ENROLL in RAND 5.0 NOW

• RAND Hospital Price Transparency Study FAQ

Op-Ed: Now is the Time for Action on Healthcare Prices (IBJ)

Hear from Gloria Sachdev, President and CEO of the Employers’ Forum of Indiana, about what kind of public action is needed to bring down Indiana’s out-of-control hospital prices. Read the full article in the IBJ.

Mark Your Calendar – 2023 Forum Meeting Schedule

Mark your calendar for these upcoming All-Stakeholder meetings! Details including agenda items will be distributed prior to each meeting.

• April 12, 2023, at Noon (EST) | Indiana Landmarks Center
• August 24, 2023 | Time & location TBD
• November 2, 2023 | Time & location TBD

New Resource: RAND Hospital Price Transparency Studies Overview and National Recognition

Download this new resource, created by the Forum and RAND, that provides an overview of all four RAND Hospital Price Transparency Studies and compiles a list of government organizations, policy organizations, and academic researchers that have analyzed the data and/or cited these studies in their own reports.

Access Sage Transparency

Sage Transparency compares price, quality, and cost data for hospitals and ASCs across the US. We are excited to share that since Sage Transparency’s launch in May 2022, there have been over 25,000 user sessions.

>>Take the Sage Transparency User Survey

A survey of 1,249 Indiana adults conducted by Altarum from October 6 – 11, 2022, found that:

• Nearly 3 in 4 (72%) respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “the system needs to change.”
• Over 3 in 5 (63%) experienced at least one healthcare affordability burden in the past year.
• More than 4 in 5 (83%) worry about affording healthcare in the future.

Review the results in these briefs compiled by Altarum:

• Healthcare Affordability Brief
• Prescription Drug Affordability Brief
• Hospital Affordability Brief
• 2022 Healthcare Affordability State Policy Scorecard – Indiana

Senate approves doctor non-compete ban

The Indiana Senate on February 7 overwhelmingly passed a ban on physician non-compete agreements, a top Senate GOP priority and one of several bills meant to lower the cost of health care. Thank you to Dr. Ron Piniecki, cofounder of WellBridge Surgical, for his leadership on SB7, banning physician non-competes. This bill needs continued support as it moves to the House of Representatives. Read the article in Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Lawmakers, hospitals in talks on legislation to lower hospital prices

Much attention has been focused on HB1004, legislation that appears to be a priority of Republican leadership in the Indiana House. This bill seeks to reform healthcare by increasing competition among hospitals and insurers and supporting independent physicians while placing guardrails on hospital prices. Read the full article in the Star Press.

Rowray bill to expand birth control access clears committee

HB1568, which passed out of the House and is now on its way to the Senate, allows pharmacists to prescribe and dispense oral contraceptives and contraceptive patches, increasing access to birth control. Read the full article in the Star Press.

2023 Indiana Legislative Health Policy Media Coverage

To keep up with current healthcare legislation in Indiana, we maintain a weekly slide deck. Enjoy!

I

Employers & Insurers:

• Bill Seeks to Encourage Employers to Hire Hoosiers with Disabilities (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
• Centene to Pay $66.5 Million in Indiana Medicaid Drug Pricing Settlement (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
• Humana Lays Out Exit from Employer-Sponsored Coverage (IBJ)
• Natalie Robinson: Dishonest Billing Practices Add Pain to Small Businesses (IBJ)

Hospitals

• US Senator Probes Ascension, Alleging it Operates ‘Like a Private Equity Fund’ (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Pharmacy

• HHS Releases Initial Guidance for Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program (CMS)
• CVS Reaches $10.6 Billion Deal to Buy Clinic Owner Oak Street Health (Wall Street Journal)

Providers

• Doctors Aren’t Burned Out From Overwork. We’re Demoralized by Our Health System. (The New York Times)
• Meet America’s Largest Employer of Physicians: UnitedHealth Group (Becker’s Payer Issues)

Other Healthcare News

• Over 35 Million Prior Authorization Requests Were Submitted to Medicare Advantage Plans in 2021 (KFF)
• Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care (JAMA Network)
• Ongoing Challenges with Hospital Price Transparency (KFF)
• How to Save Three-Quarters of a Trillion Dollars in Health Care Costs (STAT)
• 18% Drop Since 2020 in People with Reported Medical Debt (Modern Healthcare)
• Study: Smoking Costs Hoosier Businesses $3.1B Annually in ‘hidden tax’ (IBJ)

Over 700,000 Hoosiers want to quit tobacco. Quit Now Indiana can help Hoosiers quit. Call 1-800-Quit-Now to get started.