For Immediate Release

November 19, 2008

REP. DICKS CALLS DASCHLE ‘SUPERB CHOICE’ FOR HHS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) said the appointment of Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health & Human Services in the Obama Administration was a superb choice, and he was looking forward to working with the former South Dakota Senator to solve the chronic budgetary problems that have plagued the Indian Health Service (IHS). 

Rep. Dicks, who serves as Chairman of the House Interior & Environment Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over IHS funding, said that his panel has fought hard against proposed budget reductions affecting Indian health during the Bush Administration.   “I look forward in the Obama Administration to a more realistic view of the health care needs in Indian country and I am encouraged by the appointment of Senator Daschle, who is particularly knowledgeable because of his interest in the problems faced by South Dakota tribes.”

The congressman said that Indian health issues have been a high priority for the Interior appropriations panel because of the health disparities that exist in the United States today.  He said that “the average life expectancy for Native Americans is nearly five years less than the rest of the population in our country.   I think it is tragic that Native Americans are more than three times as likely to die from diabetes and more than 40 percent more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza.”

Dicks said that “while the federal government spends nearly $6,000 for each Medicare recipient in America-- it spends only $2,000 per person for Indian Health Service medical care."  He added that he was looking forward to discussing the matter with the Secretary-designate Daschle shortly.

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