Legislators began the 2025 General Assembly session on Jan. 8, starting the clock on four months of work to pass a new state budget and other legislation.

Gov.-elect Mike Braun (R), who will be sworn in on Jan. 13, has announced he intends to make health care cost reduction one of his top priorities. Braun said he would seek to reform prior authorization, create more price transparency, regulate pharmacy benefit managers, and expand rural health care access and telehealth services.

Reforming senseless prior authorization requirements is also among the ISMA’s top priorities. ISMA will defend common-sense scope of practice rules against efforts to allow unsupervised practice of medicine by pharmacists and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), and proposals to weaken oversight of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). ISMA will also urge legislators to expand a ban on noncompete clauses for primary care physicians to cover physicians in all specialties.

The House and Senate have until April 29 to agree on a new two-year spending plan. Legislators have warned that a steady rise in Medicaid spending will likely mean a cautious approach to spending increases. Last month’s economic forecast from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency reinforced that outlook, predicting economic growth in the first year but near-flat revenue in the second year.

ISMA will be active in working to protect or enhance funding for health care in the new budget, including the Health First Indiana public health program established in 2023 and the equalization of Medicaid reimbursements under the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP 2.0) with Medicare rates. ISMA will also advocate for increased funding for Graduate Medical Education (GME), enabling the creation of more residency slots across Indiana.

Physician Advocacy Day
Mark your calendar to attend the 2025 Physician Advocacy Day on March 12 at the Indiana Statehouse. This is a great opportunity for physicians to meet with legislators, learn about the legislative process, and advocate for themselves and their patients. Registration will soon open at www.ismanet.org/events.

Stay up to date
Follow the latest updates from the legislative session through ISMA Reports; the ISMA’s weekly Legislative News, published each Friday during the session; and the ISMA podcast “The Clinic.” Learn more at www.ismanet.org/podcast.