Legislative Action Alert: Health Care Reform & the Indian Health Care Improvement Act

  

Health Care Reform As It Stands:
Every Indian patient and Indian health provider has a significant stake in the passage of the national health care reform bills. In addition to a number of provisions that strengthen and secure the Indian health delivery system in both the House and Senate general bills, Indian Country’s health care bill—the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA)—has been included in both the Senate and House health care reform bills. By including our bill in the national legislation we are closer to passing IHCIA than we have been at any point in the past 10 years.

Last week, however, the future of health care reform, and thus of IHCIA, was significantly threatened. On Tuesday, Republican candidate Scott Brown (R-MA) won a special election to fill the Senate of the late-Ted Kennedy’s seat. Brown’s election means the end of the Democratic super-majority in the Senate, thus enabling Republicans to maintain the filibuster against any health care conference bill.

The three national Indian organizations—NCUIH, NIHB, and NCAI—have called upon Congressional Leadership and the Obama Administration to find some strategy to move forward and not lose the work of the past. While many ideas have been floated, no final decisions have been announced by either Congressional Leadership or the Obama Administration.

Potential Strategies to move BOTH Health Care Reform and IHCIA forward:

  • Passing the Senate-passed legislation, H.R. 3590 ‘as-is’ in the House of Representatives;
  • Passing the Senate legislation, as noted above, with the House and Senate agreeing to modify certain provisions through the budget reconciliation process which would only require 51 votes to pass, and;
  • Starting from scratch and focusing only on those pieces of the health care reform bills that were popular—this strategy potentially abandons IHCIA.

You MUST tell your Representatives that any strategy to move health care reform forward MUST include the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

Action Item:
Representative Kirkpatrick is currently spearheading an appeal to Speaker Pelosi to include IHCIA in any strategy that would move the health care reform bill forward. Please contact your Representative and ask them to stand with Representative Kirkpatrick and call upon Speaker Pelosi to include IHCIA.

For Additional Information: