Health Care Reform
On March 23rd, 2010, President Obama signed into law one of the most sweeping reforms of the American health insurance system. This historic bill included a number of provisions which protected the Indian health delivery system and Indian patients. These provisions were born from a series of wide ranging discussions health throughout Indian Country. The successful inclusion of many of Indian Country's key recommendations for national health insurance was a testament to to the unity of focus of the national Indian organizations under the guidance of Tribal leaders.The most recent national
health care reform debate began in mid-2008 during the Democratic Primaries and
became one of President Obama's main campaign issues. Upon taking office his
first request of Congress was to begin work on reforming the health care system
for the entire United States. Faced with over 44 million people either
uninsured or under-insured and a Medicare Trustees' report stating that the
Medicare fund would be insolvent in 2015, Congress began the task of drafting
national health reform from the perspective of controlling rising insurance
premiums and medical costs.
The three national Indian health organizations: NCUIH, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) have been involved in the health care reform legislative process since the beginning. In early May of 2009, the Senate Committees of jurisdiction called a meeting with the tri-organizations and requested that they work together to develop recommendations. The Senate Committees of Jurisdiction made it clear that they wanted the three organizations to spearhead all Indian recommendations and advocacy. The tri-organizations quickly formed a technical working group, pulling upon the wide range of expertise available throughout Indian Country. NIHB and NCAI held Tribal listening sessions and work groups through Tribal Leaders' Associations, regional Indian health boards, and other similar bodies. The National Council of Urban Indian Health held conference calls, sent out a call for policy proposals, and utilized the expertise of its board, which holds representatives from each region and service level. From this body of knowledge the tri-organizations formed the Indian Country Recommendations, which have formed the basis of all policymakers education efforts undertaken by the tri-organizations and the technical working group.
In late October of 2009 Indian advocates were successful in attaching H.R. 2708 the Indian Health Care Improvement Act Reauthorization of 2009 to the House health care reform bill, H.R. 3962. In December Senator Dorgan, with the help and support of Indian advocates, succeeded in attaching S. 1790, the Senate cut and bite version of IHCIA to the Senate health care reform bill, H.R. 3590. These two successful legislative maneuvers have brought IHCIA closer to passage than it has been in over ten years.
Through the structure of
the tri-organization and the technical working group, NCUIH has continuously
sought to ensure that the needs of urban Indian communities are heard and
addressed throughout the legislative process. Visit the IHCIA page to learn more and download these documents.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PDF)
Health Care Reform and IHCIA Initial Analysis/Briefing
For more information about NCUIH's past legislative efforts, visit the Knowledge Resource Center by clicking here.
