Left to Right: Jerome J. Simone, Chief Executive Officer, United Indian Health Services, Inc.; Reno Franklin, Chairman, California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc.; and Linwood Killam, M.H.A, CEO, Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc.

On Wednesday, July 23, 2008, Reno Franklin, NIHB’s California Area Board Member and Chairman of the California Rural Indian Health Board, delivered a petition of nearly 500 signatures in support of passing H.R. 1328, a bill to reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1328), to the House leadership offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner. Two weeks ago, NIHB found tremendous grassroots support on the National Mall during the Longest Walk II Powwow. Hundreds of tourists from all over the United States and the world expressed their support for the passage of IHCIA by signing a petition to be delivered to the House leadership and filling out post cards to their Representative.

Dear Friends of NIHB,

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) needs your help! We want to know how we are doing.


Below is a link to a short survey. The results will be used to guide future communications about health issues, programs and calls to action. Remember, your responses will be anonymous and your honest response will help the NIHB improve communication methods and efforts to reach Indian Country about health issues.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=eq_2bFKnBuk593lFClUc_2fsHg_3d_3d


Yours in health,

Stacy A. Bohlen
Executive Director

Project Manager: Tribal Public Health Accreditation
Open Until Filled

Full Job Description (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

State of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2008
Contact: Gilbert Gallegos
505-476-2217

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to make the Indian Health Care Improvement Act a priority and move urgently to reauthorize the resolution.

Governor Richardson noted in his letter, which was also sent to New Mexico's congressional delegation, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and the co-chairs of the House Native American Caucus, that the Indian Health Care Improvement Act has languished since 2000 without Congressional renewal.

As a result, many services and programs in New Mexico have been underfunded or eliminated.

“Past underfunding and elimination of services has contributed to persistent health disparities among Native Americans,” the Governor stated in his letter. He pointed out that Native Americans have the highest rates of death from diabetes, pneumonia/influenza, alcoholism and cirrhosis in the state.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed its version of the Act. Governor Richardson thanked the Speaker for her consideration and work “to rectify this national travesty.”

NIHB Chairman Sally Smith in her letter to Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton, wrote:

“the Hyde-like amendment is an unnecessary provision which co-opts an important debate about health care for AI/ANs. Indeed it injects an inflammatory, polarizing issue into a debate about comprehensive health care for AI/ANs. The amendment should not be allowed to distract from the important issues before the House; such as, the reauthorization of the IHCIA. Indian Country has been working for almost ten years to reauthorize the IHCIA. The NIHB implores all Members of the Energy & Commerce Committee to not allow this issue to derail our bill.”

Click the following links to read Chairman Smith’s letter to House leadership and obtain a copy of other Federal laws with the codified Hyde Amendment.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adam McMullin at 202-466-7767 or amcmullin@ncai.org
Darren Thompson at 202-466-7767 or dthompson@ncai.org

House Energy & Commerce Committee Continues to Sit on Desperately Needed Bill

WASHINGTON—April 25, 2008— Today marks the one year anniversary that the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) has been sitting in the Energy & Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Several months ago, the U.S. Senate passed the reauthorization of the IHCIA sending optimism to Indian Country that health care will finally be brought into the 21st Century, but today Native Americans are still waiting on the House.

“The United States has a longstanding trust and treaty responsibility to provide adequate healthcare to our people and it’s about time that Indian Country has its health care modernized,” said National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Joe A. Garcia. “With the U.S. Senate’s overwhelming support of the reauthorization of the IHCIA, Indian Country is surprised the bill is still lingering in Speaker Pelosi’s House of Representatives.”

Native Americans continue to rank on the bottom of nearly every single indicator of good health. The life expectancy for males in the U.S. is 75 years. On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota it is 56 years, lower than Haiti where it is 58 years. Natives also face dramatically higher diagnosis and death rates from chronic illnesses such diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

The IHCIA will modernize and improve Indian health care services and delivery; provide the basic tools to address the overall health of our communities; help us address problems of teen suicide and methamphetamine abuse; and allow for in-home care for our elders.

“This one year anniversary is not a day to celebrate. Tribal leaders, tribal members, and friends of Indian Country continue to do all we can to move this legislation forward. NCAI and NIHB reach out to Speaker Pelosi for her help to break this gridlock in the Energy & Commerce Committee and hold the Committee to their new June 6, 2008 deadline.”

Request for Participation - Deadline: June 19, 2008

Indian Health System Partners

I am pleased to announce an opportunity for participation in the expanded Innovations in Planned Care for the Indian Health System Collaborative (IPC II). Please review these materials carefully and consider participating in this groundbreaking work.

The Aim of the Chronic Care Initiative and the IPC-II collaborative is to support community and individual wellness and strength and reduce the prevalence and impact of chronic conditions. I am proud of what the original 14 IPC sites have accomplished in the past year, adapting the Care Model and using rapid cycle improvement methodology to chart a new course in care.

Now we have an opportunity for additional sites to join the IPC collaborative, refining the work of the past year and building the foundation for an Indian Health System with a focus on the patient, family, and community at the center of care and the improvement skills and tools to make this vision a reality.

I recognize that not all sites will be prepared at this point in time for participation in IPC II. This work requires IHS, Tribal, and Urban Indian sites with a high degree of readiness and the will to drive fundamental change in their health program. Programs that do not participate in IPC II will have the opportunity to join the Chronic Care Initiative readiness learning community launching this spring.

I encourage IHS, Tribal, and urban Indian health programs to consider participation in IPC II. This work, part of the integrated initiatives in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Behavioral Health, and Chronic Care, is critical to the health and wellness of American Indian and Alaska Native people. I look forward to the innovative work you will do together over the next year.

Robert G. McSwain
Acting Director
Indian Health Service