NALU January 16, 2008: Urge a Yes Vote for Indian Health
The Senate is scheduled to debate whether to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) on Tuesday, January 22. The failure of Congress to reauthorize IHCIA since 1992 has increased the disparity in access to services throughout the Indian health care system. Programs such as in-home care, long-term care, and mental health treatment, available to most U.S. communities, are absent on many reservations.
After eight years of intense effort, advocates for Indian health believe the bill can pass. For the first time in at least two decades, a piece of legislation affecting Native Americans will be publicly debated by members of Congress. Many senators will be hearing about the health conditions in Indian Country for the first time. They need your guidance.
Action:
Ask your senators to vote YES for S. 1200 and for cloture and to vote against any amendments, in order to permit an up or down vote on reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
Background:
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, originally passed in 1976 to improve health services and facilities, has spurred progress in sanitation and curtailment of acute illnesses. Against great odds, tribes have had many successes. Still, the health status of Native Americans remains worse than that of the general population, and unmet health needs remain alarmingly severe. Reasons behind the predicament are two-fold: funding is exceedingly low and updating of service delivery has been blocked. IHCIA has not been reauthorized, but not for lack of trying by health advocates. Modernization is needed to increase the life span of American Indians and Native Alaskans.
Currently, in partnership with the Native population, the federal Indian Health Services (IHS) delivers health services to more than 1.8 million people of all ages. The mission is to raise their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health through comprehensive, culturally acceptable personal and public health services, but IHS struggles to make basic and specialized medical care available and accessible to the service population. Reauthorization is imperative to revise policies, strengthen relevant services, and add new services.