Committee Sounds Alarm on Lack of Tribal Health Care Oversight

Press Release

"The IHS stated mission is 'to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level' yet American Indians and Alaska Natives have significantly lower health outcomes than the average American, including lower life expectancy and higher levels of disease. Currently, a native person's life expectancy is five and a half years shorter than the average American. Simply spending more money will not solve the IHS problem. For over a decade, the Health and Human Services Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have indicated that inadequate oversight of healthcare continues to hinder the ability of IHS to provide an adequate quality of care despite continued increases in the agency's budget. In 2017, the GAO, placed IHS on their High-Risk List as one of the government programs and operations vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse. While IHS has made some progress on key recommendations, much work remains."

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