On Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the National Indian Health Board joined the National Congress of American Indians, National Council of Urban Indian Health and fifteen Tribal organizations in a letter to Congress to ensure that Indian Country’s COVID-19 concerns and priorities are comprehensively addressed in the next relief package.
The Tribal health priorities outlined in the letter are as follows:
- Minimum $8 billion directly related to the COVID-19 public health response to the Indian/Tribal/Urban (I/T/U) system including:
- Minimum $1 billion vaccination distribution and implementation
- Minimum $250 million in COVID-19 testing
- Minimum $200 million for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medical supplies, and the deployment of supplement medical personnel
- Minimum $1 billion for Native veterans’ health through the Veterans Health Administration
- Minimum $200 million tribal set aside for support of mental and behavioral health programs
- Minimum $40 million tribal set aside for programs that serve as response to domestic abuse
- Minimum $3 billion in funds to replenish third party revenue loss in the I/T/U system
- Minimum $2.67 billion for the construction and improvement of water and sanitation infrastructure for the I/T/U system and Tribal communities
- Extend full (100 percent) Federal Medical Assistance Percentage to Urban Indian Organizations
- Permanently extend waivers under Medicare for the use of telehealth
Read the full letter.