On June 7, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1328).
“The statistics speak for themselves,” said Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ). He continued, “Native Americans suffer disproportionately from almost every condition or disease when compared to the general population. From obesity to diabetes and heart disease to HIV/AIDS, all are epidemics that are ravaging American Indian communities [that] have too few resources to respond. A large part of the problem is that American Indians have greater difficulty in accessing quality health care services. For far too many years, there has been a growing divide between the health care services afforded Native American communities and other segments of the population.”
Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the Indian Health Service Charles Grim expressed his concerns with the specific provisions of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (P.L. 94-437) (IHCIA), but added that he was generally supportive of its reauthorization. In detailing one of his concerns, Dr. Grim said, “In the area of behavioral health, proposed…provisions provided for the needs of Indian women and youth and expand[ed] behavioral health sciences to include a much-needed child sexual abuse and prevention treatment program. The Department supports this effort, but opposes language…that requires the establishment or expansion of specific additional services. The Department should be given the flexibility to provide for services in a manner that supports the priorities of Tribes and IHS [Indian Health Service], and to address specific needs within IHS’s overall budgetary levels.”
Testifying in support of H.R. 1328, Rachel Joseph, co-chair of the National Steering Committee for the Reauthorization of the Indian Heath Care Improvement Act, said, “The enhancements in H.R. 1328 will facilitate improvements in the Indian health care delivery system. Health care services will be delivered in a more efficient and pro-active manner that, in the long term, will reduce medical costs, will improve the quality of life of AI/ANs [American Indians and Alaska Natives], and more importantly, will save the lives of thousands of AI/ANs.”
Ms. Joseph outlined many of the health care issues facing Indians, saying, “Public health indicators, such as morbidity and mortality data, continue to reflect wide disparities in a number of major health and health-related conditions, such as diabetes, mellitus, tuberculosis, alcoholism, homicide, suicide, and accidents. These disparities are largely attributable to a serious lack of funding sufficient to advance the level and quality of adequate health services for AI/AN. Recent studies reveal that almost 20 percent fewer AI/AN women receive pre-natal care than all other races and they engage in significantly higher rates of negative personal health behavior, such as smoking and the consumption of alcohol and illegal substances during pregnancy.”
Also testifying were James Crouch, executive director of the California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc.; Ralph Forquera, executive director of the Seattle Indian Health Board; and Ken Lucero, councilman of the Pueblo of Zia, chair of the All Indian Pueblo Council Health Committee, and chair of the Indian Health Service Albuquerque Service Unit.
