INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE: Strengthening the State of Health Care in Indiana Requires a Market-Based Approach

By: Luke Messer

Keeping Hoosiers healthy and productive is critical to keeping our economy strong.

Last year alone, 208 companies committed to locate or expand in Indiana, investing nearly $29 billion in their operations and creating 22,000 new good-paying jobs, marking the highest capital investment and annual record for average wages in the state’s history.

To keep that momentum going and to continue attracting and retaining a first-class and talented employee base, the Hoosier State must both maintain a healthy workforce and control health care costs. 

To date, efforts to solve our state’s many health challenges have divided stakeholders and delivered mixed results. But, never have we seen a holistic approach to solving cost, access, and quality challenges that our health care system faces – until now. 

Business leaders (Zotec Partners), innovators (Eli Lilly and Company), educators (Ivy Tech Community College and University of Notre Dame), economic development organizations (Indy Chamber), health care stakeholders (Beacon Health System), insurance industry stakeholders (Horton Group and MHS), and other members of Indiana’s diverse economy are partnering under the umbrella of the Indiana Business Health Collaborative (IBHC) to generate thoughtful market-based solutions to enhance health care affordability, quality, and access across the state of Indiana.

Because they love Indiana, these Hoosier leaders want better health outcomes for their friends and neighbors. Just as important, the IBHC’s members know that Indiana’s health care outcomes are an important economic driver for our state.

We applaud the work of our state legislators to address challenges in Indiana’s health delivery system. These leaders understand that the status quo is unacceptable for Hoosier businesses and families.

They need support in this fight. Through the IBHC, Hoosier employers and health care industry stakeholders stand ready to work together to devise and implement meaningful changes that ensure affordability, accessibility, and quality of care.

As the IBHC undertakes this effort, it will follow several principles: collaboration, competition, education, commitment, and results. These principles will help drive market-based solutions that aim to lower the cost of care in Indiana while ensuring that Hoosiers receive unrestricted access to the high-quality services they need. 

This effort will require engagement with a broad range of stakeholders willing to disrupt a broken health care system and deliver enduring results that are patient-centered, outcome-focused, and market-based. If you support this approach, we hope you will join us.

Source: Indiana Capital Chronicle