Health Care Legislation For Native Americans On Hold
Congress is expected to adjourn in December without sending a wide-ranging health care bill focused on Native Americans to President Bush, leaving Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan and Native American leaders to seek support from the incoming administration of President-Elect Obama. The bill was passed by the Senate earlier this year, and is likely to reappear in similar form in the next Congress.
The legislation would authorize expenditures of approximately $35 billion for Native American health care programs over the next 10 years. It would give Native peoples increased access to health care services, including screening and mental health programs. It also provides for funding increases for the federal Indian Health Service, subsidizes new construction and modernization of reservation-based health clinics, and promotes the recruitment of Native Americans into health professions. The bill also would increase Tribal access to Medicare and Medicaid.
Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan attributed the bill’s failure to a dispute over abortion funding. He said its passage through the House was complicated by an amendment added by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., that would bar any money authorized in the legislation from being used for abortions.
