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Washington, DC --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation this week in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent the federal government and states from forcing additional health care costs on American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs). The New Jersey congressman was joined by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) in introducing this legislation.
The legislation comes in response to a Republican budget reconciliation bill passed last month that cuts Medicaid by $11.4 billion. The Republican bill would allow states and the federal government to impose additional premiums, co-payments, and other forms of cost sharing on low-income Medicaid beneficiaries, including Native Americans.
Pallone said that these Medicaid cuts could have enormous consequences for Native Americans, as well as the Indian Health Service, tribal and urban Indian providers from whom many Native Americans receive health services.
Under current law, Native Americans below the poverty line do not have to pay premiums in order to receive healthcare through Medicaid. If the House Republican budget bill becomes law, states and the federal government would now be allowed to require poor beneficiaries to pay premiums. Pallone's legislation would prevent these charges from being imposed on AI/AN beneficiaries.
Pallone's legislation would also prevent state and federal governments from increasing Medicaid co-payments and other cost-sharing on AI/AN beneficiaries above the poverty line, who might face such charges if the Republican budget bill becomes law. The New Jersey congressman's legislation would also guarantee 100 percent federal payment of services to AI/AN Medicaid patients of Urban Indian Health Programs, and requires tribal consultation.
According to a recent General Accountability Organization (GAO) report, reimbursements from Medicaid constituted nearly 58-percent of direct medical care budgets for Indian Health Service (IHS), the primary agency charged with the delivery of health services to Native Americans, facilities.
"The federal government has a unique responsibility to provide health care to American Indians and Alaskan Natives," Pallone said. "Medicaid plays a crucial role in fulfilling this promise. I sponsored this legislation to ensure the federal government and states meet their responsibility to pay the Medicaid costs of American Indians and Alaskan Natives." |
