Congressman Ruiz, Bacon Introduce Legislation to Address the Health Disparities in Native American Communities
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25) and Representative Don Bacon (NE-02) introduced a bipartisan bill, the Urban Indian Health Parity Act, that addresses the health care gaps for urban American Indian and Alaska Native Medicaid beneficiaries:
"Tribal communities continue to face significant health care disparities due to the lack of access to critical health resources and facilities, and we have a long way to go before seeing that gap start to close,” said Dr. Ruiz. “My bill would allow the federal government to cover the full cost of Medicaid services for American Indian and Alaskan Native patients at Urban Indian Health Organizations and would go a long way to ensure that they have the resources they need to better serve Native Americans.”
“Since the federal government is not funding Medicaid services at 100 percent in Nebraska, our state has had to shoulder the additional costs. This means our Urban Indian Organizations have reduced ability to serve the 46 percent of Native patients who are receiving Medicaid benefits. Nebraska’s 2nd district is home to approximately 10,000 American Indian and Alaska Natives and we need to provide these organizations with the ability to best serve them and this bill will do that,” said Rep. Bacon.
"Medicaid serves as a critical source of health coverage for those living on limited income, and the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) covers a portion of those costs,” said Cole, Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus and Member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. “Although FMAPs allow aid to be further reaching, it does not cover the costs of services at all healthcare facilities in Native American communities. The Urban Indian Health Act would expand these critical cost covering measures to Urban Indian Organizations at a 100 percent reimbursement rate, beyond original levels set in 1976, and while meeting the needs of Native Americans regardless of housing or location status. I am proud to join my colleagues in the introduction this important bill."
“We applaud Representatives Ruiz and Bacon for this bipartisan effort to ensure that the federal government honors its trust responsibility to Native people and improves health outcomes that are desperately needed. With broad support from Indian Country, we are hopeful that Congress will move forward with ending this inequity to expand resources for communities that benefit from the necessary services provided by Urban Indian Organizations and all Indian Health Care Providers,” said Francys Crevier (Algonquin), CEO of the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
“We are so grateful to have the support of our Tribal partners through the National Congress of American Indians, where a resolution was passed to support the permanent authorization of 100% FMAP funds for Urban Indian Organizations. They recognized the success of the 100% FMAP pilot, which enabled states to acquire additional Medicaid funds to either support their general fund or in our state, Washington, reinvested in the two UIOs,” said Esther Lucero (Diné), President & CEO of Seattle Indian Health Board. “This resulted in the purchase of a new site for a 92-bed residential treatment program. The reintroduction of the Urban Indian Health Parity Act by Congressman Ruiz is dedicated to building upon this success!”