Congress Needs To ‘Quickly’ Approve Indian Health Care Reauthorization Bill, California Senator Writes In Opinion Piece

House leaders should “act quickly and approve” the Indian Health Care Improvement Act reauthorization bill “so that we can send this bill to the president and provide the quality health care that [American Indians] in California and around the nation need and deserve,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) writes in a Eureka Times-Standard opinion piece (Boxer, Eureka Times-Standard, 4/2). The Senate in February approved the bill (S 1200), which would authorize $35 billion over the next decade for the Indian Health Service to expand health coverage and services for about 1.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 2/27).

Under the bill, “For the first time, Indian tribes would be able to use federal funds to provide long-term care, including hospice, home-based and community-based care for elderly and vulnerable members in their communities,” she writes.