Another viewpoint: GOP leaders lukewarm to public health proposals

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(Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said in July one of his four priorities for the coming legislative session would be more funding for public health. But top lawmakers from the governor’s political party are expressing doubt about the size of any increase.

During the recent annual Indiana Chamber of Commerce legislative preview, Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray said he found the governor’s plan to hike health spending by $243 million annually “ … a little difficult to swallow.”

GOP House Speaker Todd Huston said the General Assembly already invests in public health, though “it may not be as much as people like.” If the legislature puts more money toward health, he said it should “support actionable goals with measurable outcomes,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.

Indiana performs poorly compared to the rest of the nation when it comes to public health. Atlanta-based Sharecare, a digital health care company, partnered with the Boston University School of Public Health, ranked Indiana 41st on its list of the healthiest states in 2021.

In August 2021, Holcomb established the Governor’s Public Health Commission and charged its 15 members with examining the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s public health system and making recommendations for improvements.

The commission submitted a 107-page report to Holcomb in August. It advocated starting a health care workforce plan to mitigate staffing shortages, increasing access to state data for local health departments and establishing a strategic equipment stockpile and stepping up public health spending by about 65%.

Programs that combat problems associated with infant mortality, smoking, obesity and children’s health top the list of services provided inconsistently due to funding deficits at the county level, said Mindy Waldron, a member of the commission and the Allen County Department of Health’s administrator.

Indiana ranks 48th in public health funding, spending about $55 per Hoosier or $36 less than the national average of $91 per person. The commission wants to close the funding gap by $36 per resident at a cost of about $243 million per year.

Huston said Monday he had asked Public Health Committee Chair Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond, and Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Jeffrey Thompson, R-Lizton, to do a “deep dive” on the commission report. He was noncommittal on what would come from the analyses.

Luke Kenley, co-chair of the commission and a former Republican chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, emphasized transparency played an important role in the commission’s process. Members hosted seven listening sessions across the state and read every comment the commission received online or at its public meetings. Kenley sent reports to lawmakers after each session.

Indeed, the commission took its assignment seriously and identified specific actions in addressing the state’s acknowledged shortfalls in this area: Ensuring core public health services are provided locally by promoting collaboration and quality improvement; investing in public health to improve outcomes through consistent delivery of services; training the public health workforce to expand capacity; coordinating and modernizing data to provide tools to help communities make better-informed health decisions; and improving student learning by eliminating barriers to health care.

Holcomb, GiaQuinta and other like-minded legislators should go all-in on the commission’s funding and other proposals.

County health departments have one of the 10 lowest expenditures per capita in the nation and many of their workforces are ill equipped to deal with the communicable disease issues they face, such as COVID-19, monkeypox and sexually transmitted diseases.

The cost of preventive care is almost always far less than addressing the aftereffects of disease. Increased and sustainable funding, more staffing and better trained public health officials can lead to better public health outcomes in Indiana – and that benefits all Hoosiers.

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