• Hearings Examiner, Room N642, Indiana Government Center North, 100 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis.
• Planning & Programming Department, Indiana Department of Transportation Seymour District office, 185 Agrico Lane, Seymour.
• Charlestown Clark County Library, Sellersburg Branch, 430 North Indiana Avenue,   Sellersburg.

A bill introduced recently in the Indiana House of Representatives would provide liability protection for licensed volunteer health care providers in Indiana, who are committed to providing needed services to under served Hoosiers who cannot afford adequate medical care.

“More than 350,000 Hoosiers are considered ‘medically under served’ and simply cannot afford adequate health care,” said Dr. Chuck Dietzen, a globally-recognized Indiana pediatric specialist, who travels worldwide frequently to help others.

He continued, “As licensed health care professionals, who are sworn to help others regardless of their income or their illness, we want to be able to travel throughout the state of Indiana – just as we do globally – with the peace of mind and a reasonable level of legal protection while delivering the services people so desperately need.”

The purpose of House Bill 1145 is to provide a greater level of protection to hundreds of licensed volunteer health care providers throughout Indiana as they seek to provide Hoosiers with the same compassionate level of medical care as they do when traveling abroad.

Currently, Indiana law restricts licensed medical professionals from volunteering their services unless they purchase medical malpractice insurance. At the same time, those Hoosiers who are medically underserved are faced with no other options than to use an emergency room – often at taxpayer’s expense – for their primary care. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the average expense for all people who had one of more visits (in 2009) to an emergency room in Indiana was $1,318 per visit.

In addition to providing lawsuit protection to licensed medical professionals who volunteer their services at no cost to the taxpayers or to those being served, HB 1145 would serve all Hoosiers without insurance, as well as those who cannot afford the cost of a co pay or meet a deductible.

According to Dietzen, HB 1145 would save taxpayers money. The savings would come from individuals not having to use an emergency room for their primary health care needs.

“Throughout Indiana, there are thousands of health care professionals – including those who are retired – who would be able to provide a higher level of proper care to more of the people who need it,” added Dietzen. “And, they could deliver these vital services to people in surroundings that are familiar to them within the city or town in which they live.”

Dietzen explained that a provision of the bill would provide the opportunity for community-based and non-profit organizations to host volunteer medical clinics in their neighborhoods, at such places as a community center, food pantry or place of worship.

Another provision of the bill stipulates that the immunity would not apply in cases involving any damages that result from a person’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.

The bill is authored by Rep. David Frizzell (R-Dist. 93) and co-authored by Reps. Denny Zent (R-Dist. 51) and Thomas Washburne (R-Dist. 64).

Dietzen is encouraging others to contact their legislators to adopt the bill, adding that it’s a “…reasonable solution for expanding the delivery of needed health care services to both rural and urban communities across Indiana”.

In expressing his support for the legislation, Dietzen encouraged others to express their support for HB 1145 by contacting their State Representative or State Senator at:

Indiana House of Representatives – General Switchboard: (800) 382-9842 or the Office of Rep. Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House at (317) 232-9677

Indiana Senate – General Switchboard: (800) 382-9467 or the Office of Sen. David Long, President Pro Tempore at (317) 232-9416

“House Bill 1145 creates an unprecedented opportunity for thousands of Hoosier schoolchildren and adults to gain greater access to vital health care services and enjoy a higher quality of life,” Dietzen explained. “At the same time, we are able to make it possible for doctors, nurses and other first responders – licensed in the state of Indiana – to step forward and volunteer to help others right here at home…just as they do worldwide.”

The Republican-dominated House Monday passed a measure taking power away from Democratic State Superintendent Glenda Ritz. She could lose control of the State Board of Education as early as this summer.

The proposal would allow Republican Gov. Mike Pence’s appointed board members to elect their own chairman, removing Ritz from her current position in that role. Until now, Indiana law automatically gave responsibility to the superintendent of public instruction.

Legislative Democrats continued to maintain the proposal is politically motivated and undermines the decision of voters who elected Ritz in 2012.

In the 58-40 vote to pass the bill, a dozen Republicans broke rank and voted against it. If the Senate passes it too and Pence signs it into law, the change would take effect July 1.

The measure was prompted by the well-known friction between Ritz and Republican board members, who frequently argue over control of the education policy during the past two years.

House Speaker Brian Bosma said he has never seen a more dysfunctional system and the bill is a necessary change.

Conflict includes Ritz ending one board meeting abruptly after ruling a member’s motion out of order and walking out. She later sued the other members of the board, claiming they violated state public access laws when they sought to move calculation of the A-F school grades to legislative analysts.

Ritz supporters assert that the disputes have been spawned by Pence’s appointees who want control over programs on teacher evaluation, private school vouchers and the state takeover of poorly performing schools.

“Just because somebody disagrees with you doesn’t mean you need to stomp on them or make sure their voices are muzzled,” said House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City.

Many of these programs were championed by former Superintendent Tony Bennett, who Ritz unseated in 2012 after receiving more supporting votes than Gov. Pence.

Ritz supporters expressed their concerns about the bill on social media over the weekend, causing (hash)IStandForRitz to become a top trending hashtag in Indianapolis on Sunday. Thousands of tweets said removing Ritz from power would be ignoring the 51 percent of voters who elected her to lead education policy.

State Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, who is sponsoring the legislation, said the bill would ensure that the State Board of Education goes back to operating with “a functional governance procedure” and is not meant to be an attack on democracy.

But Democrats insisted the move was a “power grab” aimed at the only Democrat who holds an office in the Statehouse.

“The so-called dysfunction is not a clash of personalities. This is about a clash of policies,” said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. “You can’t pretend that it’s just some attempt to make people play nice.”

Pence called last month for the change to allow the board to pick its own chairman. The longtime state law has been that the superintendent of public instruction, who is elected statewide, is the chairman of the Board of Education, and the other 10 members are appointed by the governor.