Indiana Politics - Public Health

 I missed out on the anti-vaxxers and the claims of freedoms being taken away by state regulations during the Covid pandemic. Those thinking they are being terrorized or otherwise having their rights usurped by public health regulations, need to give a look at China. To me, those people are whiners, like small children wanting license to do as they please without regard to the harm to others.

And public health continues to be a problem for Indiana: Indiana’s horrific public health standing is a choice it’s willing to make:

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Public Health Commission released its extensive final report in August of this year, confirming plenty of details that were generally already known. But as is often the case with fact-gathering entities like this one, the public often looks at the sweeping document in hopes of establishing the smallest of conclusions. Yes, only two states rank lower than Indiana in funding public health. 

Some conservatives could claim that having our government spend less than others is something to tout. Yes, I can hear them now. Even I am reluctant to assume that it is fundamentally bad to spend less on any governmentally based program or initiative. Measuring ourselves this way is often meaningless. Sadly, that is not the case this time.

While our funding rankings certainly seem bad by themselves, the result is even worse. 

Indiana is an unhealthy state....

Why do we continue to let this stand? 

Enter former state senator, and former Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley. He has credibility on budgets and public policy. He also co-chaired Holcomb’s commission. What we found out this week is that he plans to advocate for the closing of our funding gap. This is a big deal, and what could be the beginning of real progress. 

“I was somewhat shocked that we were so far at the bottom end of the scale in terms of having a healthy population,” Kenley said in an interview with the Indianapolis Business Journal this week. The tone of his comments, and the commission’s report drives the value of investing an additional $246 million per year in health initiatives.

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Indiana has all the knowledge it needs about how it is performing on public health. It has had it for decades. The state is terrible, and the state knows it. 

Governing is choosing. Hoosiers don’t just happen to be terribly unhealthy; it actually is what we have chosen to be.

The Republicans have governed Indiana for all of my adult life, they have created this problem. Covid reminded us of something known to our parents and grandparents - epidemics can kill. So why do the people of this state find the Republicans as good for them?

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