Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb proposed a massive increase in funding to public health programs, Northwest Indiana Business Magazine reported Jan. 6.
The proposal includes $120 million in fiscal 2024, the report said. That's up 1,739 percent from the state's current $6.9 million per year Local Health Maintenance Fund.
The proposal for fiscal 2025 nearly doubles it at $227 million, or a 3,290 percent increase from the Local Health Maintenance Fund.
Indiana's 92 counties would receive about 80 percent of the proposed funding, the report said. The rest would bolster public health needs statewide, including staffing, disease prevention, EMS services and child health screenings.
Mr. Holcomb said he plans to launch a program in 2023 that will connect residents to drug addiction treatment programs, the report said. Funding for it will come from the more than $500 million Indiana is set to receive in coming years from a national opioid settlement.