Whereas Congress considers doubtlessly large cuts to federal Medicaid funding, tribal well being leaders are bracing for a disaster.
Indian Nation has a singular relationship to Medicaid, as a result of this system helps tribes cowl power funding shortfalls left by the Indian Well being Service, the federal company chargeable for offering well being care to Native People.
With the associated Youngsters’s Well being Insurance coverage Program, Medicaid gives protection to greater than one million Native People. The joint state-federal program additionally accounts for about two-thirds of non-IHS income for tribal well being suppliers. That earnings helps create monetary stability and covers some operational prices for tribal hospitals and clinics. Tribal leaders need an exemption from any cuts and are getting ready for a struggle to protect their entry.
“Medicaid is among the methods wherein the federal authorities meets its belief and treaty obligations to supply well being care to us,” stated Liz Malerba, director of coverage and legislative affairs for the United South and Jap Tribes Sovereignty Safety Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group for 33 tribes spanning from Texas to Maine. Malerba is a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe.
“So we view any disruption or lower to Medicaid as an abrogation of that accountability,” she stated.
Final month, the Home accredited a funds decision that requires lawmakers to chop spending to offset tax breaks. The Home Committee on Vitality and Commerce, which oversees spending on Medicaid, is instructed to slash $880 billion over the subsequent decade.
The IHS initiatives that it’s going to invoice Medicaid about $1.3 billion this fiscal yr, which represents lower than half of 1% of general federal spending on Medicaid.
If Congress makes huge cuts to this system, tribal well being services will doubtless must reduce providers for a inhabitants that experiences extreme well being disparities, a excessive incidence of power sickness, and a shorter life expectancy.
“Once you’re speaking about someplace between 30% to 60% of a facility’s funds is made up by Medicaid {dollars}, that’s a really tough gap to try to backfill,” stated Winn Davis, congressional relations director for the Nationwide Indian Well being Board.
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