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IHS Profile

Based on 2015-2020 data -- Numbers are approximate

  • The Indian Health Care System:
    • Indian Health Service (IHS) direct health care services
      IHS services are administered through a system of 12 Area offices and 170 IHS and tribally managed service units.
    • Tribally operated health care services
      Titles I and V of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Law 93-638, as amended), provide Tribes the option of exercising their right to self-determination by assuming control and management of programs previously administered by the federal government. Since 1992, the IHS has entered into agreements with tribes and tribal organizations to plan, conduct, and administer programs authorized under Section 102 of the Act. Today, over sixty percent of the IHS appropriation is administered by tribes, primarily through self-determination contracts or self-governance compacts.
    • Urban Indian health care services and resource centers
      The IHS Office of Urban Indian Health Programs (OUIHP) was established in 1976 to make health care services more accessible to Urban Indians. The IHS enters into limited, competing contracts and grants with 41 Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs) to provide health care and referral services for Urban Indians throughout the United States. UIOs provide access to culturally appropriate and quality health care services, which include full ambulatory care, limited ambulatory care, outreach and referral, and residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. The OUIHP 4-in-1 grant program provides funding to UIOs to address four health program areas, including health promotion and disease prevention services, immunization services, alcohol and substance abuse related services, and mental health services.
  • Population Serve: (as of January 2020):
    • Members of 574 federally recognized Tribes in 37 states
    • 2.56 million American Indians and Alaska Natives
  • Annual Patient Services :
    • Inpatient Admissions (Tribal and IHS facilities FY 2018): 40,494
    • Outpatient visits (Tribal and IHS facilities FY 2018): 13,752,397
  • IHS Budget Appropriation:
    • FY 2016: $4.8 billion
    • FY 2017: $5.0 billion
    • FY 2018: $5.5 billion
    • FY 2019: $5.8 billion
    • FY 2020: $6.0 billion
  • IHS Third-Party Collections (Federal facilities only):
    • FY 2016: $968 million
    • FY 2017: $1.02 billion
    • FY 2018: $1.09 billion
    • FY 2019: $1.14 billion
  • Medicaid coverage within the IHS user population by federal fiscal year
    • FY 2016: 677,811
    • FY 2017: 715,138
    • FY 2018: 727,255
    • FY 2019: 724,359
  • Per Capita Personal Health Care Expenditures Comparison:
    • FY 2019 IHS expenditure per user population: $4,078
    • Total CY 2017 U.S. National Health Expenditure per person (Categories 1-4): $9,726
  • Human Resources (as of April, 2019):
    • Total IHS employees: 15,370
    • Nurses: 2,380
    • Physicians: 776
    • Pharmacists: 798
    • Dentists: 270
    • Physician Assistants: 104
    • Environmental Health and Sanitarians: 195
  • Facilities (as of July 1, 2020)            Operated By
    Type of Facility IHS Tribes
    Hospital 24 22
    Health Center 51 279
    Health Station 24 79
    Alaska Village Clinic 0 59
    School Health Center 12 6
    Youth Regional Treatment Centers 6 6

    Note: Of the 46 hospitals, five IHS and nine Tribal hospitals are critical access hospitals. One of the tribal hospitals is an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Additional information on the IHS is available at https://www.ihs.gov and https://www.ihs.gov/aboutihs/

August 2020

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