The Sequester Hits the Reservation
March 20, 2013
Indian Health Services was supposed to be spared the worst of the automatic cuts; at least that is what its officials believed. Under 1985 law that served as the model for the current sequester, annual cuts to appropriations for the Indian Health Service could not exceed 2 percent.
The agency’s director, Yvette Roubideaux, had to warn tribal leaders last September to plan for a much bigger, $220 million cut, which it expects will lead to 3,000 fewer inpatient admissions and 804,000 fewer outpatient visits each year.
The Indian Health Service operates 320 health centers, 45 hospitals, 115 health stations and 4 school health centers across the country. The vast majority of these are on reservations, where poverty, disease, substance abuse, suicide and other public health challenges are severe.
Click here to read full article.
Indian Health Services was supposed to be spared the worst of the automatic cuts; at least that is what its officials believed. Under 1985 law that served as the model for the current sequester, annual cuts to appropriations for the Indian Health Service could not exceed 2 percent.
The agency’s director, Yvette Roubideaux, had to warn tribal leaders last September to plan for a much bigger, $220 million cut, which it expects will lead to 3,000 fewer inpatient admissions and 804,000 fewer outpatient visits each year.
The Indian Health Service operates 320 health centers, 45 hospitals, 115 health stations and 4 school health centers across the country. The vast majority of these are on reservations, where poverty, disease, substance abuse, suicide and other public health challenges are severe.
Click here to read full article.
More Money Does Improve Indian Health
March 20, 2013
Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, director of the Indian Health Service, went through the numbers at an oversight hearing. IHS appropriations have increased 29 percent since 2008 which, she said, is “making a substantial difference in the quantity and quality of healthcare we were able to provide to American Indians and Alaska Natives.”
For example: Contract Health Service dollars, money spent to purchase medical services outside of the Indian health system, has been increased by 46 percent since 2008. “Four years ago, most programs were funding only Medical Priority 1, or ‘life or limb’ referrals. Now,” Dr. Roubideaux reported, “the increased CHS funding means that almost half (29 out of 66) of Federal CHS programs are now funding referrals beyond Medical Priority 1.”
That means that there is now money, at least some money, for preventative services such as mammograms and colonoscopies. “The increased CHS money also means that the IHS Catastrophic Health Emergency Fund, which used to run out of funding for high cost cases in June, now is able to fund cases through August,” Dr. Roubideaux said.
Clearly more money in the contract health care (soon to be labeled in the next budget as “purchased and preferred care”) program is making a difference and most likely saving lives. But what about in other program areas?
Click here to read the full article.
Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, director of the Indian Health Service, went through the numbers at an oversight hearing. IHS appropriations have increased 29 percent since 2008 which, she said, is “making a substantial difference in the quantity and quality of healthcare we were able to provide to American Indians and Alaska Natives.”
For example: Contract Health Service dollars, money spent to purchase medical services outside of the Indian health system, has been increased by 46 percent since 2008. “Four years ago, most programs were funding only Medical Priority 1, or ‘life or limb’ referrals. Now,” Dr. Roubideaux reported, “the increased CHS funding means that almost half (29 out of 66) of Federal CHS programs are now funding referrals beyond Medical Priority 1.”
That means that there is now money, at least some money, for preventative services such as mammograms and colonoscopies. “The increased CHS money also means that the IHS Catastrophic Health Emergency Fund, which used to run out of funding for high cost cases in June, now is able to fund cases through August,” Dr. Roubideaux said.
Clearly more money in the contract health care (soon to be labeled in the next budget as “purchased and preferred care”) program is making a difference and most likely saving lives. But what about in other program areas?
Click here to read the full article.
