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National Indian Health Board - NIHB Meets with Senate ... up of NIHB Meeting with Sen. Ca… · At...

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March 8, 2013 NIHB Meets with Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairwoman and Staff Director on Tribal Health Priorities On March 5, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) met with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) and Mary Pavel, SCIA Staff Director, on Capitol Hill to discuss Tribal health care priorities and legislative focus of the SCIA during the 113 th Congress. The meeting was also the first opportunity for NIHB to discuss the 2013 NIHB Legislative and Policy Agenda with the SCIA. The NIHB is honored to have the strong and effective leadership of Sen. Cantwell and looks forward to working with the SCIA during the 113 th Congress. At the meeting, NIHB Board Members mentioned several NIHB Tribal health care priorities that NIHB will pursue at the national level through legislative and policy work in 2013. NIHB urged the SCIA to focus on securing increased funding for health services and programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in the Indian Health Service (IHS), such as increased funding for Contract Health Services and Contract Support Costs. Throughout 2013, NIHB will seek legislative solutions to direct funding for health care services and programs to Tribes and advance IHS appropriations. NIHB Chairperson Abramson also urged the SCIA to hold a full committee hearing later this year on the reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI), which was recently reauthorized in January 2013 but is set to expire in September 2014. NIHB Portland Area Representative Andrew Joseph, Jr. stated that he will be co-presenting the IHS Budget Formulation Team testimony on recommendations on the IHS FY 2015 budget at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tribal Budget and Policy Consultation on March 8. Mr. Joseph mentioned that grant funding for increased usage of Tribal languages from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is important because many Tribes are on the verge of losing their language. Mr. Joseph’s Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Tribe), is currently ranked #3 globally to possibly losing their Tribal language. The ANA language grant funding allows the Colville Tribe to teach the Tribe’s language to Tribal youth and about the Colville Tribe’s culture, medicines, and traditional foods in order to encourage Tribal youth to live healthier lives. Another health issue discussed during the meeting was the need to ensure that individual Indians currently receiving Indian Health Services continue to receive all the benefits in the implementation of the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act (ACA) by seeking a uniform
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Page 1: National Indian Health Board - NIHB Meets with Senate ... up of NIHB Meeting with Sen. Ca… · At the meeting, NIHB Board Members mentioned several NIHB Tribal health care priorities

March 8, 2013 NIHB Meets with Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairwoman and Staff Director on Tribal Health Priorities On March 5, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) met with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) and Mary Pavel, SCIA Staff Director, on Capitol Hill to discuss Tribal health care priorities and legislative focus of the SCIA during the 113th Congress. The meeting was also the first opportunity for NIHB to discuss the 2013 NIHB Legislative and Policy Agenda with the SCIA. The NIHB is honored to have the strong and effective leadership of Sen. Cantwell and looks forward to working with the SCIA during the 113th Congress. At the meeting, NIHB Board Members mentioned several NIHB Tribal health care priorities that NIHB will pursue at the national level through legislative and policy work in 2013. NIHB urged the SCIA to focus on securing increased funding for health services and programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in the Indian Health Service (IHS), such as increased funding for Contract Health Services and Contract Support Costs. Throughout 2013, NIHB will seek legislative solutions to direct funding for health care services and programs to Tribes and advance IHS appropriations. NIHB Chairperson Abramson also urged the SCIA to hold a full committee hearing later this year on the reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI), which was recently reauthorized in January 2013 but is set to expire in September 2014. NIHB Portland Area Representative Andrew Joseph, Jr. stated that he will be co-presenting the IHS Budget Formulation Team testimony on recommendations on the IHS FY 2015 budget at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tribal Budget and Policy Consultation on March 8. Mr. Joseph mentioned that grant funding for increased usage of Tribal languages from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is important because many Tribes are on the verge of losing their language. Mr. Joseph’s Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Tribe), is currently ranked #3 globally to possibly losing their Tribal language. The ANA language grant funding allows the Colville Tribe to teach the Tribe’s language to Tribal youth and about the Colville Tribe’s culture, medicines, and traditional foods in order to encourage Tribal youth to live healthier lives. Another health issue discussed during the meeting was the need to ensure that individual Indians currently receiving Indian Health Services continue to receive all the benefits in the implementation of the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act (ACA) by seeking a uniform

Page 2: National Indian Health Board - NIHB Meets with Senate ... up of NIHB Meeting with Sen. Ca… · At the meeting, NIHB Board Members mentioned several NIHB Tribal health care priorities

definition of “Indian.” NIHB believes the term “Indian” should be uniformly defined for ACA Title I purposes by using the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) definition because of Indian specific cost-sharing protections under Medicaid that predate the ACA and AI/AN eligibility for Indian specific provisions. The meeting occurred at a critical time as many federal programs and services, including those for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), will see significant budget cuts through the sequester that took effect on March 1. The Indian Health Service (IHS), the federal agency overseeing the administration of health care to AI/ANs, will see a reduction of $220 million. This devastating budget cut translates into lost funding for primary health care and disease prevention services for AI/ANs, which is certain to produce tremendous negative health impacts. NIHB stands with Indian Country and opposes any cuts to Indian program funding while Congress looks to reduce the nation’s federal deficit. NIHB Board Members attending the meeting included NIHB Board Chairperson Cathy Abramson (Bemidji Area Representative), NIHB Treasurer Rex Lee Jim (Navajo Area Representative), Michelle Hayward (California Area Representative), Buford Rolin (Nashville Area Representative), and Andrew Joseph, Jr. (Portland Area Representative). Sen. Cantwell’s health staffers, Janell George and Paul Wolff, also attended the meeting. NIHB continues to follow AI/AN health care developments on Capitol Hill and throughout Indian Country. For more information on the NIHB 2013 Legislative and Policy Agenda, please CLICK HERE.


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