After ten long years of tireless work and advocacy by Indian Country, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) is now law! On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the landmark health care reform legislation that includes the permanent reauthorization of the IHCIA.
The IHCIA was originally enacted in 1976 by Congress to address the deplorable health conditions occurring in Indian Country. The law provides the key legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people. Over the past decade, Indian country has worked to reauthorize the IHCIA in order to expand, improve, and modernize health delivery and services. In recent months, the House and the Senate pledged to support the IHCIA by including the bill in the overall health care reform legislation. The Obama Administration reaffirmed that support by clearly and unequivocally calling for the permanent reauthorization of IHCIA in the White House’s outline for health care reform.
Congress has renewed its promise to promote, advance, and strengthen health care for Indian people, and the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health thanks our Representatives for their vote for Indian Health!
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Statement by the President on the Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act:
March 23, 2010
Earlier today, I signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health insurance reform bill passed by Congress. In addition to reducing our deficit, making health care affordable for tens of millions of Americans, and enacting some of the toughest insurance reforms in history, this bill also permanently reauthorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which was first approved by Congress in 1976. As a Senator, I co-sponsored this Act back in 2007 because I believe it is unacceptable that Native American communities still face gaping health care disparities. Our responsibility to provide health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives derives from the nation-to-nation relationship between the federal and tribal governments. And today, with this bill, we have taken a critical step in fulfilling that responsibility by modernizing the Indian health care system and improving access to health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
