Whereas Congress considers probably large cuts to federal Medicaid funding, tribal well being leaders are bracing for a disaster.
Indian Nation has a novel relationship to Medicaid, as a result of this system helps tribes cowl continual funding shortfalls left by the Indian Well being Service, the federal company chargeable for offering well being care to Native People.
With the associated Kids’s Well being Insurance coverage Program, Medicaid offers 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 making ready for a combat to protect their entry.
“Medicaid is likely one of the methods by which the federal authorities meets its belief and treaty obligations to offer well being care to us,” mentioned 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 reduce to Medicaid as an abrogation of that duty,” she mentioned.
Final month, the Home accepted a funds decision that requires lawmakers to chop spending to offset tax breaks. The Home Committee on Power and Commerce, which oversees spending on Medicaid, is instructed to slash $880 billion over the subsequent decade.
The IHS tasks that it’ll invoice Medicaid about $1.3 billion this fiscal yr, which represents lower than half of 1% of total federal spending on Medicaid.
If Congress makes massive cuts to this system, tribal well being services will seemingly have to cut back companies for a inhabitants that experiences extreme well being disparities, a excessive incidence of continual sickness, and a shorter life expectancy.
“While you’re speaking about someplace between 30% to 60% of a facility’s funds is made up by Medicaid {dollars}, that’s a really troublesome gap to try to backfill,” mentioned Winn Davis, congressional relations director for the Nationwide Indian Well being Board.
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