Indiana Senator Mike Braun says having workforce development conversations without mentioning the increasing burden of employee health costs is difficult.
Braun hosted a roundtable with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb Tuesday in the nation’s capital. The event focused on the state’s workforce readiness grant program, which seeks to connect workers with training for in-demand skills.
While increasing talent pipelines are important, many employers admit healthcare costs are important, too.
A non-partisan research firm last year found Hoosiers with private insurance plans pay more for hospital care than residents in 44 other states.
Indiana’s junior Republican senator says systemwide there’s little incentive to fix the problem.
"It’s still the number one issue out here," he said it has been "highlighted by some of the weaknesses in the system as we navigated through COVID."
"Hospitals, pharma, insurance, even practitioners benefit from the status quo," Braun said.
Study authors found there was not a clear link between the price a hospital charged and the quality of care—a claim some health systems, like IU Health, refute.
READ MORE: Hoosier Hospitals Charge More For Same Procedures, Study Finds
While the cost of delivering care does vary, and specialty services are more expensive to offer, there is little evidence Indiana hospitals' operating costs are significantly higher than those of surrounding states.
The data were compiled between 2016 and 2018, and do not account for the effects of COVID-19 on hospital finances.
