USET Resolution No. 2013:046: Support for Alternative Funding Options for the Indian Health Service

Summary

USET Resolution No. 2013:046, Support for Alternative Funding Options for the Indian Health Service, passed by United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. at its Semi-Annual Meeting in Niagara Falls, NY, on Friday, May 17, 2013. The whereas clauses say the Indian Health Service remains chronically underfunded and that since Fiscal Year 1998 appropriated health care funds have been released after the start of the new fiscal year. They point to advance appropriations for Veterans Administration medical care as a model. The resolution calls upon Congress to authorize and appropriate funding for a two-year funding cycle, advance appropriations, or forward funding for the Indian Health Service. It is certified by Brian Patterson, President, and Brenda Lintinger, Secretary.

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Full text

United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.

Nashville, TN Office: Washington, DC Office:
711 Stewarts Ferry Pike, Suite 100 400 North Capitol Street, Suite 585
Nashville, TN 37214 Washington, D.C., 20001
Phone: (615) 872-7900 Phone: (202) 624-3550
Fax: (615) 872-7417 Fax: (202) 393-5218

USET Resolution No. 2013:046

SUPPORT FOR ALTERNATIVE FUNDING OPTIONS FOR THE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

United South and Eastern Tribes Incorporated (USET) is an intertribal organization comprised of
twenty-six (26) federally recognized Tribes; and

the actions taken by the USET Board of Directors officially represent the intentions of each
member Tribe, as the Board of Directors comprises delegates from the member Tribes’
leadership; and

since the formation of the Union, the United States (U.S.) has recognized Indian Tribes as
sovereign nations; and

a unique government-to-government relationship exists between Indian Tribes and the Federal
Government and is grounded in the U.S. Constitution, numerous treaties, statutes, Federal case
law, regulations and executive orders that establish and define a trust relationship with Indian
Tribes; and

although the trust relationship requires the federal government to provide for the health and
welfare of Tribal nations, the Indian Health Service (IHS) remains chronically underfunded, and
American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer from among the lowest health status nationally; and

since Fiscal Year 1998, appropriated funds for the provision of health care to American Indians
and Alaska Natives through IHS and Tribal providers have been released after the beginning of
the new fiscal year; and

the delay in receipt of funds has most often been caused by a Congressional failure to enact
prompt appropriations legislation; and

late funding has severely hindered Tribal and IHS health care providers’ budgeting, recruitment,
retention, provision of services, facility maintenance, and construction efforts; and

identified budgetary solutions to this failure to uphold the federal trust responsibility include a two-
year funding cycle, advance appropriations, and forward funding for the IHS; and

Congress has recognized the difficulties inherent in the provision of direct health care that relies
on the appropriations process and traditional funding cycle through enactment of the Veterans
Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 (PL 111-81), which authorized
advance appropriations for Veterans Administration (VA) medical care programs; and

Congress has, pursuant to the authorization in the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and
Transparency Act, appropriated beginning with FY 2010, advance appropriations for the VA
medical care accounts; and
United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. USET Resolution No. 2013:046

WHEREAS, _ as the only other federally funded provider of direct health care, IHS should be afforded the same
budgetary certainty and protections extended to the VA; and

WHEREAS, __ in December 2010 the United States recognized the rights of its First Peoples through its support
of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), whose
provisions and principles support and promote the purposes of this resolution; therefore, be it

RESOLVED _ the USET Board of Directors calls upon the U.S. Congress to bring certainty and stability to the
Indian Health Service budget by authorizing and appropriating funding for a two-year funding
cycle, advance appropriations, or forward funding for the Indian Health Service.

CERTIFICATION

This resolution was duly passed at the USET Semi-Annual Meeting, at which a quorum was present, in Niagara
Falls, NY, on Friday, May 17, 2013.

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Brian Patterson, President Brenda Lintinger, Secretary 7
United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.

“Because there is strength in Unity”

USET 2013 Semi-Annual Meeting — Niagara Falls, NY - May 14-17 2

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