The United States government is bound by law to provide health care toAmerican Indians. In numerous treaties with Native American Nations in the 18th and 19th centuries, the U.S. agreed to provide medical care, as well as food and protection, in return for the land that Native people had lived on for generations.
The U.S. has broken those treaties time and time again. And now policymakers are failing to provide health care to Native peoples.
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which authorizes the medical treatment provided by the Indian Health Service (IHS), has not been updated since 1992. This means that the IHS is barred from taking advantage of any of the medical advances of the last two decades, making Native health care inferior to the health care of other U.S. residents.
To make matters worse, the IHS is grossly underfunded. There is a joke on Native Reservations: “Don’t get sick after June 1st.” Unfortunately, there is truth to the saying.
Congress has funded the IHS at less than 60 percent of the required level. Additionally, Congress cut funding to Native health care last year by $21 million. This means some IHS clinics run out of money halfway through the year and must turn sick people away.
This is unacceptable, and we must tell Congress to honor the United States’ promises to Native Americans by reauthorizing and fully funding the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
