INDIANAPOLIS — A new legislative task force is looking into ways to lower healthcare costs while ensuring high-quality care for Hoosiers.

The “Health Care Cost Oversight Task Force” said Hoosiers are spending too much money on healthcare—that’s why their goal is to produce a comprehensive review of the state’s high healthcare costs.

To help with that, the group heard from the Indiana Department of Insurance on Wednesday. The department broke down health care cost duties assigned under HEA 1004 (more commonly known as the “Health Care Matters” bill).

That passed last session along with an additional $225M for public health initiatives. However, the task force said more can be done. Some of the study topics the group will be discussing include consumer price reduction, alternative healthcare models and the benefits of prohibiting anti-competitive practices.

”Hoosiers can stand to be healthier and costs could stand to be lower and if you charge stakeholders with those two goals, we might come with up with more innovative solutions than any one of us can do alone,” Dr. Nir Menachemi, Executive Dean, IU Fairbanks School of Public Health, said.

Wednesday’s meeting comes nearly one week before the Health First Indiana Initiative deadline. The task force will next meet at the end of September.