U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

Thursday, January 24, 2008

CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630
Cody Wertz 303-350-0032

Sen. Salazar Fights for Indian Health Bill in Senate


WASHINGTON, DC - This week, the United States Senate began consideration of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (S. 1200) which will reauthorize, improve and expand very necessary health care services and programs for the Native American population.  The Native American population in Colorado is approximately 52,000, some of which belong to the Ute Mountain Ute or Southern Ute Tribe in Southwest Colorado. 

Unfortunately, the Native American population, both nationally and in Colorado, are far more susceptible to health disparities that lead to higher death and illness rates.  These include diabetes, and chronic liver disease.  That is why passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is critical to Native American communities as it will help fund and expand necessary health care programs and services to the Native American population living in Colorado and across the country.  It has been 16 years since Congress conducted a comprehensive review of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and addressed the persistent health disparities in Native American communities. 

Some highlights of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act:

  • Funds and expands programs to increase the number of Indians entering the health profession and providing health services. 
  • Authorizes a wide-variety of health services and programs to expand access to treatment, facilities and address backlogs. 
  • Implements authority for IHS/tribal programs to collect Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. 
  • Establishes and maintains programs in Urban Centers to make health services more accessible and available to Indians living in urban areas.
  • Authorizes behavioral health prevention and treatment services. 
  • Amends the Social Security Act to provide greater opportunities for Native Americans to access Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. 

Today, United States Senator Ken Salazar delivered the following speech, in support of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act:

“Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of S.1200, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007 (IHCIA), which will reauthorize, improve, and expand necessary health care services and programs for the Native American population.  The work we have done in the last year, and the debate we will have this week, is long overdue; it has been 16 years since Congress conducted a comprehensive review of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act - 16 years since we have addressed the persistent health disparities in Native American communities. 

This bill is vital to millions of Native Americans across the country, including the 52,000 Native Americans who live in my home state of Colorado.  Colorado is home to two sovereign American Indian Nations:  the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, in Towaoc, and the Southern Ute Tribe, headquartered in Ignacio.  But, as we must remember in the course of this week’s debate, the majority of Native Americans in Colorado do not live on a reservation.  In my state, members of 35 different tribal nations live in urban, suburban, and rural communities, from Denver to Durango.

It is hard to overstate the contributions of Native Americans to Colorado’s economy, society, culture, and history.  The Utes are the oldest known continuous residents of Colorado; the earliest Ute tribes traveled along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains before settling in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

In western Colorado, they hunted, gathered, and worked the lands, often moving with the seasons to better climates.  The Spanish arrived in the 1630s and1640s and, in the beginning, became trading partners for the Utes, exchanging tools for meat and fur. What follows is a set of sad chapters in Colorado and U.S. history, characterized by violence, retaliation, and tragedy, much of it at the hands of the federal government.
Over the next few decades, under pressure from the federal government, the Utes would enter into agreements to establish reservations, but this included large cessions of land.  While some land was returned to the Utes, the modern day reservations are the result of various government actions, encroachment by settlers, and mining interests.
The issues confronting Native American communities today are inextricably tied to this history.  And the federal government’s responsibility to Native American communities is, likewise, inextricably tied to this history.  But this week, we hope to write another chapter in this history.  We hope to take another step toward making good on the federal government’s promise to improve health care for Native Americans.
The health care statistics for Native American communities are deeply troubling.

  • The infant mortality rate is 150% greater for Native Americans than that of Caucasian infants;
  • Native Americans are 2.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes;
  • Life expectancy for Native Americans is nearly 6 years less than the rest of the U.S. population;
  • Suicide rates for Native Americans are 250% times higher than the national average.

The health care disparities are evident in Colorado, too:

  • In 2006, 5.5% of Native Americans in Colorado died from diabetes, more than twice the rate of the general population; 
  • In the same year, 3.9% of Native Americans died from chronic liver disease/cirrhosis, compared with 1.6% for the general population.  

For many Native Americans, access to health care is the biggest challenge.  I have heard countless stories of individuals who are sick or in pain having to travel long distances to receive treatment.  And when they get there, they find that the clinic cannot provide them all the treatments they need.  Those services, they learn, are in hospitals hundreds of miles away.

Access problems affect not only Native Americans on reservations that span hundreds of miles, but Native Americans living in urban areas.  For the 25,000 Native Americans living in Denver, there is only one health care facility to meet their health care needs: Denver Indian Health and Family Services.  This facility is funded by the Indian Health Service through funding allocated through Title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which provides funding for urban health centers. 

The Denver Indian Health and Family Services began providing healthcare on-site to Native Americans living in the Denver-metro area in 1978.  The majority of its patients are single parents making an average of $621 per month - $7,452 per year.  When a patient needs specialized treatment, however, they often have to travel 6,7, or 8 hours one-way to southwest Colorado, Rapid City, SD, or Albuquerque, NM.  This is a long-trip for anyone, particularly if they are ill or injured.

The United States government has a long-standing and solemn responsibility to federally-recognized tribes that is recognized in treaties, statutes, U.S. Supreme Court cases, and agreements.  It is a trust responsibility that flows from Native Americans’ relinquishment of more than 500 million acres of land to the federal government. 

Native Indians see the reauthorization of IHCIA as part of the U.S. government living up to its end of the bargain with tribal governments.  And they are right.  The disparities in health care between Native Americans and the general population is a real problem, and it is one that Congress has a responsibility to address.

I am proud of the bill that we are considering today because it takes major steps toward reducing the health disparities that persist in Native American communities.  Although appropriations for IHS have traditionally fallen far short of the actual health care needed in Indian country, the focus on preventive care in current reauthorization legislation will make more efficient use of the Indian Health Services’ limited resources. 

Difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified health professionals have long been recognized as a significant factor impairing Native Americans’ access to health care services.  The programs authorized in this bill will help recruit Native Americans into the health profession.

Additionally, IHCIA provides for health education in schools, mammography and other cancer screenings, and help cover the cost of patient travel to receive health care services.  Additionally, IHCIA removes barriers and increases participation and access to Medicare and Medicaid program benefits.

Title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act would fund programs in urban centers to ensure that health services are accessible and available to Native Americans living in cities like Denver.  Key programs include immunization, behavioral health, alcohol and substance abuse programs, and diabetes prevention, treatment and control.
 
In addition to reauthorizing and expanding existing programs, this bill will ensure that Native Americans are able to take full advantage of new technologies and new federal programs that have emerged since the last reauthorization, including Medicare Part D and the State Children’s Health Program (SCHIP).  Indian health programs should work hand in glove with these new programs and new resources.  Native Americans deserve access to a 21st century health care system.

I again want to thank my colleagues on the Indian Affairs and Finance Committees for their hard work on this bill.  In particular, I want to again thank Chairman Dorgan for his leadership and his tireless work on behalf of Native American communities across the country.  I hope my colleagues will support this bill.  We need to get this bill to the President’s desk as soon as possible.”

 

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