Hoosier Health Matters

Hoosier Health Matters
Season 2, Episode 20
Date: 7/31/2026
Title:  Indiana has a surplus of billions (but none for summer meals for kids), keep avoiding bagged lettuce, and recent health law cases

00:00- Intro
00:35- Tracey is confused by NASCAR
1:35- 24 new members since last episode! Tell your friends to become GTC members!
2:29- Indianapolis one of the 5 least fit cities (out of 100)
5:02- Indiana flush with cash ($6 billion in reserves)
6:51- Despite this, we have opted out of Sunbucks for 2027 (which provides meals to low-income children over the summer)
9:05- 954 Cyclospora cases in Indiana. Don't eat bagged lettuce.
11:16- US has the highest annual measles cases already this year in 35 years but Indiana has no cases in 2026!
14:50- CDC nominee Erica Schwartz was less than impressive in her nomination hearing
16:27- House passes Sunshine Protection Act, which would make it dark most of the morning in Indiana
17:50- Department of Defense to test all 30-year-old soldiers for their testosterone levels, which is super weird. 
19:23- Interview with Jane Hartsock about Public Health-related court cases
52:07- Little things- Enjoy the last few days of summer with your kids, and discover your Indiana Statehouse candidates, find which ones align with your values, and donate to them (same for the Senate if that seat is up for election!) Email goodtrouble@goodtroubleindiana.org if you need help with this!
54:09- Wrap-up
Elijah Bosslet provided editing assistance with this episode.
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Hoosier Health Matters
Season 2, Episode 19
Date: 7/17/2026
Title:   Indiana ranks poorly (again), explosive watery diarrhea spreads, and the government doesn't want teens masturbating

0:00- Intro
1:18- Join Good Trouble and let friends know to join us too- help us get to 2,000 members
2:48- Indiana ranked as one of the 10 worst states in which to live, and CNBC pointed out how terrible child care is here as a cause
4:02- Indiana SNAP error rate rises a bit, but remains below the national average (and the state has to pay a penalty for this)
5:46- TPR report case, which we have followed for 2+ years, now resolved by the Indiana Supreme Court and TPRs will not be released (which is good)
8:09- Indiana Medicaid updates, including rollout of new work requirements, which necessitate that you work for 3 months before getting benefits. Which is dumb.
9:28- Medicaid patients now able to go to Planned Parenthood again in all states except Indiana
11:28- ACIP committee charter rewritten (again)
12:36- CDC Executive Advisory, Science and Operations unit planned, which will require political appointees to approve scientific publications by CDC, which is not how this works
14:30- Cyclospora and explosive watery diarrhea
19:00- ACA (Obamacare) premiums predicted to rise a double digit percentage again next year
20:50- Teen pregnancy prevention program grants cancelled and changed in ways that mirror moms.gov and teh federal government does not want you masturbating
24:33- Mifepristone safety study by FDA continuing and may be released this year?
26:10- Watch the World Cup and take social media off of your phone
27:48- Wrap up
Elijah Bosslet provided editing assistance with this episode.
Become a member of the Good Trouble Coalition (free!)
Donate to support the Good Trouble Coalition
Thanks for listening!
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Hoosier Health Matters
Season 2, Episode 18
Date: 6/26/2026
Title:  Indiana health prices go public, military flu outbreaks, and Title X on the chopping block

NEXT EPISODE WILL BE JULY 17
0:00- Intro
2:05- A new website shows you health care service prices at health care institutions in Indiana.
4:08- 40% of Hoosiers can't afford the cost of living
5:25- FDA VRBPAC approves the mRNA flu vaccine that the previous FDA vaccine czar refused to review.
8:07- Military removes a flu vaccine requirement- vaccine coverage goes from nearly 100% to 40%- huge outbreak at an air force base in Texas.  Stupid decisions yield predictably stupid results.
9:56- RFK, Jr pissed that a shitty vaccine study has been retracted
12:25- Ebola outbreak continues
13:09- 770,000 kids from 12 states no longer receiving SNAP (food) benefits
14:14- Rural health grant rules being changed mid-stream
15:43- Title X program lawsuit challenges changes to the Title X program (this is a good lawsuit)
17:18- Gabe reminds us that moms.gov exists, which is a terrible website
17:58- States losing a lot of money due to abortion restrictions- and Indiana is one of the biggest losers
19:24- Tracey teaches us all about the federal embryo adoption program, and recent problematic changes around the language of that program
21:53- Go team USA!!!!
Editing assisstance this week by Elijah Bosslet
Become a member of the Good Trouble Coalition (free!)
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Hoosier Health Matters
Season 2, Episode 17
Date: 6/19/2026
Title:  Indiana kids lose Medicaid, mifepristone panic, and Sen. Bohacek on medical marijuana

0:00- Intro
2:25- 20% less Indiana children enrolled in Indiana Medicaid today compared to a year ago
4:32- Fairbanks School of Public Health joins with Indiana Department of Health to form an academic health department partnership (yay!)
6:29- Indiana tries to reign in healthcare costs by limiting hospital charges to employer based programs starting July 1
7:57- Andre Carson files bill to make SunBucks a default opt-in program (likely in response to Indiana opting out the last 2 years for reasons that seem nefarious)
10:27- MAHA wants people to eat vegetable but the Department of Agriculture is cutting funding for fresh foods in their programs
11:47- Federal House Budget would cut two extremely successful health outcomes and implementation science programs
13:56- Indiana's attorney general wants to make sure the EPA is monitoring mifepristone in drinking water. Math tells us you would have to drink 233 lifetimes of water in a very short time to achieve 1/1000th of the therapeutic serum level
17:33- FDA mifepristone safety investigation starting in earnest
18:54- Interview with State Senator Mike Bohacek about his bill to legalize medical marijuana in Indiana
32:05- Join Good Trouble for a social meetup Tuesday June 23 at Half Liter in Broad ripple at 6 pm! And watch the US beat Australia in the World Cup!
32:56- Wrap up
Editing assistance on this week's episode provided by Elijah Bosslet
Become a member of the Good Trouble Coalition (free!)
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Hoosier Health Matters
Season 2, Episode 16
Date: 6/5/2026
Title:  "Nuclear family month" executive order 🙄, more vaccine policy chaos, and the political takeover of NIH grants

0:00- Intro
1:57- Infant mortality rate for Indiana steady but remains higher than the national rate
3:11- Indiana sues federal government over a proposed change to marijuana policy
5:10- June declared "nuclear family month" by Governor Braun, despite the fact that families look a lot of different ways, and only 18% of Hoosier households meet this definition
7:02- Many more tick bites this year so check yourself 
7:49- FSSA halts new ABA provider enrollment
8:33- HHS ACIP charter proposal pulled and ACIP is in shambles
10:30- New federal executive order sets the stage for major vaccine schedule changes
12:14- FDA report: no child deaths associated with COVID vaccine
13:03- Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is the 3rd largest on record (not something to worry about, but not a good situation and any Americans who get ebola will not be treated in the United States (breaking from previous policy)
16:05- National smoking rate down to 9%!
17:13- Proposed rule change will make devastating changes to research grants in the United States (read the statement by Academy Health)
22:37- Go to a pride celebration and join GTC for the annual meeting on Monday June 8th on zoom!
24:23- Wrap up
Editing assistance on this episode by Elijah Bosslet
Become a member of the Good Trouble Coalition (free!)
Donate to support the Good Trouble Coalition
Thanks for listening!
Follow us on Bluesky and Instagram