The Indian Health Care Improvement Act
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), now up for renewal, provides authority for the provision of health care to more than 1.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Your help is needed to make sure this vital act is renewed and improved.
For 10 years, Tribal Leaders from across this nation have been working to update and modernize the Indian health care delivery system through reauthorization of IHCIA.
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) will:
- Modernize and improve Indian health care services and delivery
- Address the behavioral and mental health and well-being of Indian communities
- Allow for long term care such as assisted living and in-home care for the Indian elders
The IHCIA will address these health disparities:
- Infant mortality rate is 150 percent greater for Indians than that of Caucasian infants
- Indians are 2.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes
- Indians are 7.7 times more likely to die from alcoholism
- Suicide for Indians is 2 1/2 times higher than the national average
- Suicide is the #2 cause of death for Indian youth
Background on IHCIA
Health care services to American Indians and Alaska Natives are provided by the Indian Health Service, by Tribes and Tribal organizations, and by urban Indian organizations. (The Indian Health Service is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.) The provision of health care to Indians is based on the federal government’s trust responsibility found in the U.S. Constitution and reaffirmed over the last two hundred years through treaties, federal laws, and federal court decisions.
What You Can Do
In January, the Senate began deliberations on S. 1200, a bill to amend and reauthorize IHCIA, but then took the bill off the floor. We need your help to make sure S. 1200 is brought back to the Senate floor for final passage.
Contact your Senators today. Urge them to ask that S. 1200 be brought back to the Senate floor and – when it is – to vote YES on the bill.
Need More Info?
For more information, contact the National Indian Health Board, Alexandria, Virginia, Phone: (703) 553-2515. Background information on IHCIA reauthorization is available on their Web site at http://www.nihb.org/staticpages/index.php?page=2005051811243947.
