Dan Carden
State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, appears poised to win permanent approval for his efforts over the past 11 years to ensure Northwest Indiana children covered by Medicaid can continue accessing care at Chicago children's hospitals.
On Wednesday, the House Public Health Committee unanimously endorsed Slager's House Bill 1024 which eliminates the June 30, 2025, expiration date for the additional funding Indiana pays to out-of-state children's hospitals that treat Hoosier kids on Medicaid.
The additional funding, which amounts to approximately $600,000 a year, brings Indiana's Medicaid payments to out-of-state children's hospitals basically up to the amount Indiana would pay if the child was seen at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.
Slager noted, however, Riley is a long way from many of the state's population centers, including Northwest Indiana, so paying a little extra to children's hospitals in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky is worth it to keep Indiana families from having to travel long distances and further uproot their lives when their child is sick enough to be in the hospital.
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"We have world-class hospitals in Chicago, Louisville and Cincinnati. And Riley is a tremendous hospital, no question about that. But for people who live in Whiting it's 150 miles away," Slager said.
The six-term lawmaker also noted that since Indiana initially increased its out-of-state Medicaid rates for children's hospitals in 2021, the University of Chicago spent $140 million to construct a health care facility in Crown Point that now provides urgent and continuing care for Hoosier children away from the university's Comer Children's Hospital.
That spurred state Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond, the committee chairman, to tell Slager: "I think you made a great case for this."
The legislation now goes to the full House for a decision on advancing it to the Senate.
Meet the 2025 Northwest Indiana legislative delegation State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago State Sen. Mark Spencer, D-Gary State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dan Carden
Chief Political Reporter
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