By Grant Achenbach
ISMA Director of Government Relations

As a founding member of the Alliance for Healthier Indiana, ISMA has been on the front lines of efforts to improve Indiana’s public health rankings. To support this cause, we invite you to wear your white coat to the Statehouse on Jan. 30 for Raise it for Health advocacy day.

From 10 am to 4 pm, you’ll have the opportunity to join other advocates, talk to lawmakers and help generate press coverage about the Alliance’s efforts to increase Indiana’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack during the 2019 legislative session. Raising the tobacco tax is a proven method to decrease smoking rates and create a healthier Indiana for all. It is estimated that a $2 per pack increase will help 142,000 Hoosiers quit or avoid a lifetime of tobacco addiction and generate more than $358 million in revenue in just one year. To accomplish this goal in the upcoming budget year, it is vital that physicians and the health care community as a whole have a strong voice in the Statehouse.

If you’d like to join us for Raise It for Health Day, please register here. We hope to see you (and a sea of white coats) at the Statehouse on Jan. 30!