Negotiations for healthier Indiana heightened at Statehouse

By Brigid Curtis Ayer

With only a few days left to meet the April 29 adjournment deadline, lawmakers have shifted into high gear to finalize a legislative initiative to curb smoking and fund health care for uninsured families and children in Indiana.

Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Healthier Indiana Plan originally included four components: to provide healthcare for the uninsured; fund the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (ITPC) program at the Center for Disease Control’s recommended level of $34.8 million annually; provide funding for the immunization of children under age 2; and raise the cigarette tax to fund the programs.

Sen. Patricia Miller (R-Indianapolis), author of Senate Bill 503 which contains the primary components of the governor’s Healthier Indiana Plan, said she is “optimistic” that a final agreement can be reached before the adjournment deadline.

“First, [through this plan] we will be helping people get health insurance so they have access to health care in the most cost-effective, efficient and appropriate way,” Sen. Miller said.

She noted that currently the uninsured receive health care in the “least effective” and costly manner through emergency room visits. Sen. Miller also said that people in Indiana pay higher insurance premiums and higher health care costs to compensate for the amount of charity and indigent care provided by hospitals.

“It’s a win-win plan, and a much better system both for those who need health insurance and for those who pay for the uninsured through higher premiums,” Sen. Miller said.

Because bills including a tax increase must originate in the House rather than the Senate, Senate Bill 503 was amended into House Bill 1678 and has entered conference committee negotiations.

Rep. Charlie Brown (D-Gary), author of House Bill 1678, said, “We are very, very close to reaching a report all the conferees agree with and can sign. I’m very optimistic, overly optimistic.

“We all agree something needs to be done this year for the uninsured and for children in our state,” said Rep. Brown, who has become one of the lead negotiators of the Healthier Indiana Plan. “What we still need to decide on is the level and the kind of tax.”

Rep. Brown said that lawmakers have narrowed the range of the debate on the cigarette tax from a 35-cent increase to a 44-cent increase. The increase would bring Indiana more in line with the $1 cigarette tax most other states across the country collect.

Another possible tax increase being considered is one that Rep. Brown said is “a relatively new tax called a bed tax for hospitals, which would raise millions of dollars.”

Karla Sneegas, executive director for Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (ITPC), said almost all the major health organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Heart Association and ITPC, agree the cigarette tax should be raised by $1, not just raised to $1.

“The beauty of the governor’s

four-point plan is that each component has a positive impact,” Sneegas said, “but by putting it all together, it has the opportunity to drastically impact and reduce tobacco use in Indiana as well as reduce other diseases across the board for Hoosiers.”

Dan Gangler, co-convener of the Hoosier Faith and Health Coalition, a group whose primary purpose is to help reduce tobacco use in Indiana, said his organization agrees with the major health organizations in raising the cigarette tax by $1 to bring Indiana’s total cigarette tax to more than a $1.55 per pack.

“We have found a marked decrease in teen smoking when the cigarette tax increases,” Gangler said. “We want the tax to act as a deterrent for teens and adults, and to help fund programs which help them quit or prevent them from starting.”

Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference, testified at an April 19 committee hearing on House Bill 1678 in support of the bill.

“We need to find ways to fund health care for working families and for families and children living in poverty who are uninsured or under insured,” he said.

“Access to basic health care is necessary to one’s dignity. This bill is good for families, children and the common good of all people in Indiana,” Tebbe said. “That’s why the Church cares and is involved.”

Once the conference committee report on House Bill 1678 is agreed upon by the four conferees and signed by them, it will go to the House and Senate for a final vote.

(Brigid Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion.) †