Indian Health Service (IHS) Director's Corner Blog

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Update: Consultation on Federal Advisory Committee Act

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:20:00 GMT

I sent a letter to Tribes in November 2011 initiating a consultation on ensuring all IHS advisory groups, workgroups, and committees are in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). After reviewing the initial input, I sent a letter today to Tribes to clarify the Agency’s position and to request further and more specific input on this topic. Here is a copy of the letter. [PDF - 41KB] Comments are due in 30 days from the date of the letter.

IHS Contract Support Costs Workgroup Meeting Announcement

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:00:00 GMT

In my October 11, 2011, letter to tribal leaders, I initiated a consultation on the 2007 Contract Support Costs (CSC) Policy and requested nominations for members of a CSC workgroup to help review and evaluate the policy. Two members were selected from each IHS Area, and the first meeting of the workgroup is scheduled for January 31 - February 1, 2012, at the Hilton Hotel in Rockville, MD, near IHS headquarters. The workgroup is comprised of tribal leaders, tribal employees, and technical representatives, and is compliant with the Intergovernmental exemption of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. While the official meeting with the workgroup members and the federal government is allowed to be a closed meeting if needed, we do have limited space available for audience members who wish to attend and observe the meeting, given the importance of the topic of the meeting. We anticipate this will be the first of several meetings on this important and complex issue, and will be encouraging the Area representatives to communicate with tribal leaders and share information, provide recommendations, and gather input during this process.

Consultation on IHCIA Long-Term Care Provisions

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:24:00 GMT

I recently sent a letter [PDF - 31KB] to all Tribes to request consultation on implementation of the long-term care provisions in the recent permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act included as a part of the Affordable Care Act. I am requesting comments on the recommendations from the November 2010 Conference entitled "Long-Term Care in Indian Country: New Opportunities and New Ideas" and priorities for implementation efforts. While we have not received specific funding for long-term care, I would like to identify actions we can take now while we work through the budget formulation process on this topic. Comments are due by March 16, 2012.

FY2012 Indian Health Service Budget

Tue, 3 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

The President signed H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, on Friday, December 23, 2011, which provides the Indian Health Service with a budget for fiscal year (FY) 2012 through the end of September 2012. We are so grateful that in this time of fiscal restraint, IHS received an increase in the budget. The overall budget for FY 2012 for IHS is $4.3 billion, an increase of $237 million over FY 2011, or a 5.8% increase. The budget includes several priorities from the President’s budget and priorities from tribal budget consultation input, including increases for Contract Health Services, the Indian Health Care Improvement Fund, Health IT Security, Direct Operations, Contract Support Costs, Staffing for New Facilities, and Health Care Facility Construction. Congress also included some decreases as savings in grant program funding and Sanitation Facilities Construction funding. However, Congress did also apply an across-the-board rescission of 0.16%, so our entire budget was reduced across all lines by that amount.

We are working hard to get the funding out to all our programs so that our patients can benefit from the increase in resources we have received for FY2012. While this increase does not address the entire need, it continues the great progress we have made over the last few years with the support of President Obama, HHS Secretary Sebelius, our bipartisan supporters in Congress, and the support of our Tribal partners. More patients will receive needed healthcare services as a result of this budget, and that is the most important outcome of all.

IHS Area Directors Meeting

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:45:00 GMT

We held a meeting with all 12 IHS Area Directors in December to review progress on IHS priorities and to develop specific plans and activities to continue to make progress on how we are changing and improving the IHS. We also met with the Department of Health and Human Services Regional Directors to discuss how to further collaborate on common issues, including education on the Affordable Care Act. Here is a picture from the meeting:

HHS Supporting Tribal Access to Grants Workshop

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:40:00 GMT

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held a workshop on December 6, 2011, entitled “Supporting Tribal Access to Grants.” The purpose of the workshop was to help educate HHS staff on barriers to grant funding opportunities for tribal governments and to provide strategies on how to improve access for Tribes to HHS grant opportunities. Over 200 grant and program officials from across HHS attended. This workshop was developed in response to tribal consultation input and recommendations from the Secretary's Tribal Advisory Committee. HHS plans to hold additional sessions in the future. Here are some pictures from the event:

White House Tribal Nations Conference

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:05:00 GMT

The White House Tribal Nations Conference was held on December 2, 2011, and I attended several events during the week of the meeting. The White House held regional listening sessions during the two days prior to the meeting to give Tribes an additional opportunity to engage with federal officials. The White House also hosted an event to honor Native youth leaders as Champions of Change. The actual White House Tribal Nations Conference included a presentation by HHS Secretary Sebelius, breakout sessions on various topics of interest to Tribes, and remarks by President Obama. Here are a few pictures from the events of the week:

Tribal Delegation Meetings - December

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

IHS met with two Tribes in December: Norton Sound Health Corporation, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Here are photos from the meetings:

Urban Indian Health Program Retreat

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Urban Indian Health Programs held a retreat in November and conducted some strategic planning on issues that may impact their future business practices and operations. Here is a picture from the meeting:

Tribal Delegation Meetings - November

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

IHS met with the following Tribes in November: Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe; Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah and Ouray; and Crow Nation. Here are some pictures from those meetings: