By Alysa Landry, The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M.

Oct. 17–Health care services for American Indians may receive upgrades if a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this week passes into law.

The bill would be the first to address Indian health care since 2001.

It was introduced Thursday by North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan and co-sponsored by 15 additional senators including Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. It seeks to reauthorize legislation originally put into place in 1976 to provide health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives under the federal government’s trust responsibilities.

The last extension of the bill expired eight years ago. Versions of the bill failed to make it through Congress during the last two administrations, said Michael Wero, spokesman for the Navajo Nation’s Washington, D.C., office.

“They’ve been trying,” he said. “Every Congress since 2001 has had a health care bill, but it’s never gone anywhere.”

Wero said the attitude in Washington is optimistic this year with the new administration in place and a nationwide health care debate sparking interest.

Details of the bill still are unclear, Wero said, but he believes the language is different from past legislation.

“They’re still going through the hearing process,” he said. “We just have these general points that were made, but everyone’s pretty confident this time around.”

The bill proposes to permanently reauthorize all Indian health care programs, authorize recruitment and retention programs for health care professionals, authorize long-term

care, establish mental and behavioral health programs beyond substance abuse, establish innovative facility construction projects and combat underfunding of Indian Health Services.

Locally, the Navajo Nation Division of Health is reviewing the legislation to ensure the interests of the Nation are incorporated, Division of Heath Director Anslem Roanhorse said in a prepared statement.

“It has been a long wait for Indian health care reauthorization,” he said. “The Nation will continue to advocate for Navajo’s interests, including health facilities construction and increased resources for medical staff to provide much needed health care services to the Navajo people.”

The Navajo Nation is home to 10 federal health programs and two tribal-operated health care centers, said Patricia Olson, spokeswoman for the Navajo Indian Health Service. Together, the hospitals on the reservation boast more than 330 inpatient beds.

Olson did not have information Friday about how the federal legislation would benefit Navajo facilities.

The House version of the bill, introduced in June, remains in the committee.

Alysa Landry:

alandry@daily-times.com

—–

To see more of The Daily Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.daily-times.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.