House committee advances broad healthcare bill after adopting surprise-billing and Medicaid-fraud data-sharing amendments

House Bill 1003, a wide-ranging healthcare measure, moved forward in the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee after members approved amendments intended to curb surprise medical billing and improve state investigations into Medicaid fraud.

The bill, described by its sponsor as a multipronged effort to lower costs, fight waste and fraud, expand access and increase competition in health care, is about 40 pages long with roughly 70 sections and had an 18-page amendment filed in committee. Committee members voted to adopt Amendment 6, which expands interagency data sharing to aid Medicaid fraud investigations and clarifies exclusions for certain social-service grantees, and proceeded to pass the amended bill.

The surprise-billing change in Amendment 7 would require health carriers to meet network adequacy standards set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and to address the recurring problem of…