Health background boosts Brown's race for governor – Indiana Capital Chronicle

Incumbent Sen. Mike Braun has emerged as the front-runner in the tight race to replace term-limited Gov. Eric Holcomb, consistently leading his five competitors in the polls.

Jasper business owner richest man in parliamentfrequently invites citizens to visit his hometown, a practice he said will not end even if he is elected to the state's top office.

To get there, Brown overcame challenges from Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, businessmen Brad Chambers and Eric Dowden, and former attorneys general Curtis Hill and Jamie Lightner, among others. He needs to win the Republican primary on the 7th.

As a solidly red state, the party's nominee is likely to become Indiana's next governor, but the Republican candidate faces challenges from Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater. will be faced with.

Gov. Eric Holcomb, in an IndyStar op-ed shared with media outlets, called for more clarity on his successor candidates' proposals, but Brown said such plans would be announced after the primary. He said it would be.

a 16 point plan His website covers everything from education to borders, but no details yet. He said it would be much later before he could solidify these points into a legislative-ready proposal.

“Are there other people who are going to put forward bills, so to speak? I don’t see them doing that. I would just explain it in detail,” Brown said.

Strengths of health policy

One area where Brown stands out from his opponents is health care law. In Washington, D.C., Mr. Brown frequently shares stories of his own struggles with health care costs as a business owner while drafting legislation focused on uncovering opaque costs and easing the burden on Americans. did.

Brown said systems such as third-party administrators and networks are “complex things that happen within health care” and “deciphering what it costs (to patients) to do something.” “It's almost impossible,” he said.

He said such efforts date back to his time in the Indiana House of Representatives, when he drafted legislation on transparency and cost comparison with Medicare reimbursement rates. In some ways, this was a precursor to Indiana's ongoing efforts. Billing database for all payers.

Such Congressional efforts include:

• Wounded tactics. Help veterans access their claims electronically.
• Novel Coronavirus Infectious Disease Origins Act. Requires the declassification of information related to a potential link between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The ALS Disability Insurance Act eliminates the five-month waiting period for ALS patients to receive benefits. Follow-up actions confirmed that it was properly implemented.
• The Dump Opioid Act requires Veterans Affairs pharmacies to have drop-off points for unwanted medications.
• The Transparency Bill is“Insurance companies submit reports twice a year to insurers detailing prescription drug price trends and reimbursement, as well as how prescription drugs contribute to group health plan premium increases. It is mandatory to do so.”

However, state actions regarding health care are often constrained by federal restrictions. One common Congressional law invoked in state health policy debates over insurance is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The court gave a preferential judgment Covers several state actions and nearly all private sector plans.

Brown argued that the state can still do more.

“There's a lot of things that can be tied together and pooled together like insurance to allow individual policyholders to enjoy the benefits that are available in large group plans,” Brown said. “There are some federal regulations, like doctors can’t expand or start their own hospitals.”

Brown asks his gubernatorial race competitors for their opinions

One of the biggest hurdles for the state's next governor, as lawmakers craft his budget, will be developing a long-term plan for Medicaid, the fastest-growing part of the budget.

Part of the problem, Brown said, is that the federal and state governments split the cost of the program 50-50, with the federal government paying about two-thirds. But the federal government “generally doesn't pay any attention to cost at all,” Brown said.

A bigger issue, he said, is the overall cost of the health care system.

“Even Medicaid and Medicare are not fixing themselves and are still paying for a broken system that is not running efficiently,” Brown said. “…until we actually fix the big players in the healthcare industry to be inherently competitive and transparent, and create healthcare consumers, healthcare costs will continue to rise, regardless of whether an individual has a paycheck or not.” You will be able to receive medical care through Medicaid and Medicare. ”

Improving overall health outcomes includes “promoting wellness and prevention,” Brown said.

“…we might need legislation, we might be able to do it administratively. That would be the main (focus). And large medical institutions (I’m talking about insurance and hospitals) generally That's causing concern because they're not interested in that, and everyone else is,” Brown said.

In 2023, a coalition of health care professionals including experts from hospitals, local public health departments, and universities urged the General Assembly to invest in Indiana's public health infrastructure. After several rounds of negotiations, lawmakers chose to spend $215 million to strengthen Indiana's system.

“Our public health numbers are very bad. Infant and maternal mortality rates are shameful,” Brown said. “For me, public health is a good place to take advantage of the cash flow that we have, manage it well, and invest further.”

budget and business

Brown also cited areas other than health care, including conservation efforts and infrastructure bills passed during his tenure in the General Assembly, the latter of which his opponents have brought to attack.

On the environmental front, Brown's campaign bio says he is “an avid outdoorsman and avid hunter of morel mushrooms.”

Brown, once the most effective freshman senator, has prioritized fiscal constraints and repeatedly voted against bills that widen the budget deficit, but is an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump. That became the biggest topic.

He rejected an analysis that revealed Trump's proposed tax cuts. The national debt has increased And it mainly benefited the wealthy.

“You can probably spin these numbers around any way you want… Any time you cut taxes, you end up shorting the treasury by a little bit of money, but then economic growth goes up. And now with the Trump tax cuts, we're on record. It generates significant income,” Brown said.

He said the relentless focus on fiscal policy would translate well to Indiana, where the state is required by law to produce a balanced budget. Still, he said agency tightening could be improved through unspecified property tax relief and ways to fund infrastructure improvements.

One such agency is the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which is tasked with attracting businesses to the state and providing resources to entrepreneurs. Mr. Brown and others blasted the approach of quasi-public agencies like Eli Lilly and SK Hynix to attract multibillion-dollar investments.

“Rather than supporting the big companies that are already up and running, we're probably going to put a disproportionate amount of resources into our own small businesses, rather than reeling in whales,” Brown said. “I think there are a lot more winners trying to support startups than supporting businesses that are already in pretty good shape.”