Indiana has made major changes to how it pays hospitals to make health care more affordable, adopting a novel approach that officials say is a first in the nation.

Why it matters: It's a real attempt to lower Indiana's high hospital prices, which could eventually lower costs for Hoosiers.

State of play: The state announced Friday that it had received federal approval for major updates to two policies — the Hospital Assessment Fee (HAF) program and the State Directed Payment (SDP) initiative.

• The state is maximizing HAF payments to secure a larger federal Medicaid match, which would then flow back to hospitals through enhanced reimbursements from the SDP program.
• How much hospitals receive under that model will depend on their commercial pricing.

What they're saying: "This funding is certainly significant; however, it does not fully close the gap, and more work remains to ensure Medicaid reimbursement is sustainable long-term."

How it works: The state-directed payment model directly links Medicaid increases to commercial prices — hospitals with lower prices receive larger Medicaid increases, while more expensive hospitals get smaller increases.

• In recognition of their tight margins and safety-net role, public rural hospitals, critical access hospitals and certain consent-decree hospitals will get the highest increases without being asked to cut prices.
• "This alignment of public payments with pricing behavior marks a major shift in Indiana's affordability strategy and is designed to move the market toward more reasonable, transparent commercial rates," the state said in a news release.

Yes, but: A state report released late last year found that four of Indiana's five largest nonprofit hospital systems were already meeting the pricing benchmark the model is supposed to incentivize them to meet.

What we're watching

Hoosiers should stay off the road Thursday and Friday afternoon if they want to avoid the worst Memorial Day weekend traffic, according to INRIX forecasts.

Why it matters: AAA predicts this will be the busiest Memorial Day ever for travel — meaning your departure time could make or break your trip.

By the numbers: AAA anticipates that more than 45 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more over Memorial Day weekend — the highest total on record.

• The bulk of them — more than 39 million travelers — will be driving.

Zoom in: In Indiana, 968,000 people are expected to travel, a marginal increase from 2025.

• More than 877,000 people will be driving, nearly 52,000 flying and more than 38,000 using other modes of travel, per AAA.

State of play: A holiday road trip will cost more at the gas pump this year, per AAA.

• Indiana's average gas price today is $4.25 per gallon. It was $3.07 a year ago.

Pro tips: Sunday is a good driving day, per INRIX, a transportation data analytics company that works with AAA to calculate travel times.

• If you do have to start your road trip on Thursday or Friday, the best times to begin driving are after 9pm on Thursday or before 11am on Friday.
• Drivers relying on rental cars should also pick up early this week. Hertz says Thursday and Friday are expected to be the busiest pickup days.

What we're watching: Aggressive Monday morning drivers.

• AAA and Cambridge Mobile Telematics clocked a 29% spike in Memorial Day speeding compared with other Mondays, with speeding peaking between 7 and 9am.

🏈 The Indianapolis Colts will start their season Sept. 13 at home against the Baltimore Ravens. The schedule release includes two primetime games. (ESPN)

🎬 Brendan Fraser, an Indy native and Academy Award winner, will serve as the honorary starter of the Indianapolis 500. (FOX59)

🚛 Monster Jam truck Power Rush broke the world record for fastest speed in a monster truck at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hitting 103 mph. (IndyStar)

🚧 Beech Grove Mayor Jim Coffman touted pedestrian upgrades and other safety improvements during his annual State of the City address. (Mirror Indy)

👋 Arika here!

Whether you're a vegetarian race fan (we exist!) or just looking for a break from all the burgers and brats in the Coke lot, I have good news — there are delicious meatless meals to be had just steps from the racing capital of the world.

Here's our guide to eating meat-free in the Month of May:

😋 At Barbecue and Bourbon, right on Main Street, the sides are where it's at.

🍔 Mug-n-Bun is a classic drive-in with, blessedly, an ever-so-slightly modernized menu.

• What to order: The Impossible burger and a mountain of crinkle fries.

🌮 At Tacos and Tequila on Main, you've got options.

🥞 Charlie Brown's Pancake and Steak House is a Speedway staple that serves more than 200 pounds of pancake batter during race weekend.

• What to order: Peppered gravy and biscuit. It's full of flavor — no meat needed.

🍅 The Famous Tomato, a Speedway landmark, is hiding an absolutely killer salad bar in the back of the packed farm stand.

🥟 Stop at Che Chori on your way to the track for traditional Argentinian food and a half-dozen vegetarian empanada options.

☕️ Borage Café opened in Speedway two years ago and has been serving an evolving, but consistently veggie-forward, menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

🍕 Big Woods Brewing has more than pizza and beer, like veggie nachos topped with ranch and barbecue sauce.

Alex Palou, last year's Indianapolis 500 winner, will attempt to repeat the feat from the pole position.

Driving the news: The four-time IndyCar series champion peaked at the perfect time, turning his fastest qualifying laps in the Fast Six shootout Sunday after Saturday's rain forced a change in the programming.

• After a full-field qualifying round early Sunday, the Top 12 competed for a spot in the Fast Six. Those drivers ran a third qualifying run to determine the running order of the first two rows.
• Palou was followed by 2016 winner Alexander Rossi, David Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist — who had been fastest earlier in the day — Santino Ferrucci and two-time runner-up Pato O'Ward.

Fun fact: The field's average speed across four qualifying laps was 230.2 mph.

What's next: Drivers will be back on track today for a two-hour practice session.

Go deeper: See the full qualifying results.