NEWS & VIEWS

April 24, 2025

Make Indiana Healthy Again

Last week, Governor Braun invited Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Dr. Mehmet Oz to Indiana to announce a "Make Indiana Healthy Again" initiative with nine Executive Orders. These orders touch on Medicaid, SNAP, physical fitness, and food additives.

EO 25-60 - This order repeats language from SEA 2 including directions to: no longer accept self-attestation for enrollment, collect and periodically review data that could affect eligibility, do an eligibility redetermination promptly after receiving new eligibility information, and establish performance standards for Presumptive Eligibility (PE). Reports on progress and data are also required.

EO 25-59 - This order directs the Secretary of Education to create a Governor's Fitness Test and a School Fitness Month, to make recommendations on getting healthier local food to students, and to make recommendations on how to highlight harmful effects of cell phone and social media usage. In addition, it includes a couple requests of food service providers.

EO 25-58 - This order directs several state departments to study access to local food and direct-to-consumer sales.

EO 25-57 - This order directs the Secretary of Health and Family Services to study diet-related disease in Indiana. It specifically asks for successful efforts of the Health First Indiana initiative.

EO 25-56 - This order directs the Indiana Department of Health to study the health impacts of artificial food dyes and additives. It also directs IDOH to develop a public education campaign about findings.

EO 25-55 - This order directs the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) to apply for a waiver from the federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to allow Indiana to exclude candy and soft drinks from SNAP benefits. It also directs the Secretary of Health and Family Services to develop recommendations for additional "low nutritional value" items to exclude from SNAP.

EO 25-54 - This order directs FSSA and the State Budget Agency to review SNAP for ways the federal statute limits SNAP effectiveness, specifically about (1) providing nutritious food to enrollees, (2) promoting self-sufficiency through Employment and Training (E & T) programs, and (3) reducing improper payments and other admin errors.

EO 25-53 - This order requires FSSA to do asset tests to determine SNAP eligibility and to recommend ways to streamline the asset verification process.

EO 25-52 - This order directs FSSA to assign E&T to all individuals subject to it (it is currently voluntary), and to measure the success based on (1) median earnings, (2) employment rate, (3) enrollment in SNAP, and (4) percentage of participants who obtain or are working toward credentials or secondary school diploma within first year post program.

Medicaid Reform

Christopher F. Koller writes that much public policy conflict arises because stakeholders cannot agree on the problem being addressed. Proponents of a policy change are often captivated by an idea and spend their time selling it, working backwards to identify a problem that the change addresses. Opponents to the change focus on defense, with little attention to the problem motivating advocates for change (which may have other solutions).

Kennedy v. Braidwood Management

This case, heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, April 21, 2025, had two issues up for interpretation. First, the constitutionality of the US Preventive Services Task Force (PSTF) and their authority under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to mandate coverage of a wide range of preventative treatments. Second, the validity of the preventative coverage mandate specifically related to PreP, a drug used to prevent HIV infection. The entities who filed suit say it violates their Christian beliefs against homosexuality.

While this case centers on PreP, if SCOTUS rules in favor of Braidwood Management, it puts at risk all preventative coverage with no cost sharing.

Registration for the 2025 ISHN Conference is OPEN!

Join over 600 school, community, and public health professionals at the 2025 ISHN Conference! Preconference sessions kick off on Monday, June 9th, with insightful discussions and expert-led workshops. The two-day conference on June 10th and 11th offers a rich agenda filled with thought-provoking keynote speakers, numerous breakout sessions, and more than 50 exhibitors.

Registration Deadline: June 2, 2025

Call for Exhibitors

Conference attendance is expected to be over 600 professionals including but not limited to: educators and school administrators, nurses and other healthcare professionals, social workers, outreach and enrollment specialists, managed care professionals, child health advocates, early childhood professionals, and government program partners. The information and resources that exhibitors provide are an integral part of the overall success of the conference.

Reserve your booth now - space is limited!

Marketplace Training

The 2025 Annual Assister training is once again available at https://portal.cms.gov. New users can register for training through the “Training Options” on the Welcome page.

Additionally:

• Users who previously completed training can print their certificate from the completed transcript.
• Users who were in-progress should have a new registration added to their active transcript. They can continue from where they left off to complete the remaining modules. If they were in the middle of a module, they will need to start that module over. Any modules completed will transfer as completed.

If you have any issues accessing training, or your progress was not saved, email the MLMS Helpdesk at mlmshelpdesk@cms.hhs.gov. 

Work Requirements

The Urban Institute published a report last month, Assessing Potential Coverage Losses among Medicaid Expansion Enrollees under a Federal Medicaid Work Requirement. The report draws on lessons learned from two states that implemented work requirements and also assessed potential coverage losses modeled on the Limit, Save, Grow Act.

A new brief from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, How Work Requirements Would Affect Medicaid Coverage in Each Expansion State, estimates that 4.6 – 5.2 million Americans ages 19 – 55 would lose coverage if federal work requirements are enacted. In Indiana, 102,000 – 116,000 Hoosiers could expect to lose coverage although most are already working or would meet expected exemption criteria. 

Marketplace FTR Recheck Notices

The Marketplace is conducting Failure to File and Reconcile (FTR) Rechecks and began sending notices mid-April to Marketplace enrollees identified as failing to file and reconcile Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTC). Enrollees who fail to file and reconcile for two consecutive tax years are at risk of losing APTC. Tax fliers should file taxes and reconcile as soon as possible to avoid losing Marketplace coverage.

FSSA Quarterly Financial Review

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration will host the SFY 2025 Q3 Financial Review on Friday, May 2, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Attendees can join in-person or watch the livestream. 

During the Quarterly Financial Review, agency leadership will provide an update and overview about how taxpayer dollars are supporting agency priorities and Hoosiers.  

Location:   Indiana Government Center South Auditorium

302 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46204 

Livestream:  FSSA YouTube

Schedule: 

8:30-9:20    Division of Family Resources 

9:20-9:30    BREAK 

9:30-10:20   Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning 

10:20-10:30  BREAK 

10:30-11:20  Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services 

11:20-11:30  BREAK 

11:30-12:20  Division of Aging 

12:20-1:00   BREAK 

1:00-1:50    Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning 

1:50-2:00    BREAK 

2:00-3:20    Division of Mental Health and Addiction 

3:20-3:30    CLOSING 

If you have any questions in advance of or in reaction to the QFR, please contact AskTheSecretary@fssa.in.gov. 

211 University

Indiana 211 University continues to offer webinars (and recordings) on a wide variety of topics. This month kicked off a five-part series focusing on 211 call data, including unmet needs, from five different regions of the state. The website links to past recorded webinars and offers the opportunity to sign up for notices on upcoming webinars. The upcoming session on May 21, 2025, at 10 am EDT will discuss data from the following counties: LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, Dekalb, Kosciusko, Whitley, Alan, Wabash, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Grant, Blackford, Jay, Madison, Delaware, Randolph, and Henry Counties. No registration is necessary, just click here to join on May 21st. 

Health Literacy

The definition of health literacy was updated in August 2020 to better encompass both a personal and organizational level.



• Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.
• Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.

These new definitions are important because they

• Emphasize the ability to use health information rather than just understand it
• Focus on the ability to make "well-informed" decisions rather than "appropriate" ones
• Acknowledge that organizations have a responsibility to address health literacy

For a historical perspective on the importance of health literacy, listen to a presentation from Dr. Rima Rudd. Dr. Rudd is a health literacy expert at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The title of her presentation is "Health Literacy Research Findings and Insights: Increasing Organizational Capacity for Shaping Public Health Messages."

For more information and to access free training on the topic, click here.

How Nicotine Replacement Therapy Can Help Young Adults Quit Nicotine for Good

According to the Truth Initiative, Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) can play a key role in helping young adults quit smoking or vaping by easing withdrawal symptoms and reducing nicotine cravings. Despite its proven effectiveness, NRT is often underused among young people due to misunderstandings about its safety and how it works. Increasing awareness and access to NRT is essential to support young adults in their quit journey, especially as nicotine addiction continues to rise with e-cigarette use. 

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