Dorgan Works to Invest in Indian Health Care

Press Release

DORGAN WORKS TO INVEST IN INDIAN HEALTH CARE

Head of Devils Lake hospital testifies before Dorgan's Indian Affairs Committee that Indian health care is chronically underfunded

The head of Mercy Hospital in Devils Lake, N.D., testified Thursday before U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) Indian Affairs Committee, saying the underfunding of the federal Indian Health Service costs her facility hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and leaves many American Indians without access to the health care they need.

Dorgan has led the charge to improve health care services in Indian Country. He invited Mercy Hospital President and CEO Marlene Krein to today's hearing to share her story about how Mercy Hospital is often forced to cover the costs of care provided to American Indians. Despite the fact that the federal government has a trust responsibility to provide health care to American Indians, the program that is supposed to reimburse private facilities like Mercy Hospital for authorized services receives only about half the funding it needs.

Krein testified that because of these shortfalls, the Indian Health Service will pay her hospital only for care provided to the most serious patients - those in danger of losing their life or a limb. Since some patients are treated anyway, Krein said, her hospital loses about $200,000 each quarter.

"When there is a need, the people of the Spirit Lake Nation have nowhere to go except to the Mercy Hospital (Emergency Department). We serve them because we are called to from our heritage, and Government regulation," Krein said in her testimony. "I believe we … have a shared responsibility to see that the people of Spirit Lake Nation have access to health care 24/7."

"Marlene Krein and the staff at Mercy's Hospital are doing the Lord's work by caring for those who can't afford to pay in the Devils Lake area. But they shouldn't have to cover those costs," Dorgan said. "This country has a trust responsibility to provide health care to Native Americans. We have an obligation to invest in health care in a way that ensures no one who needs care is turned away from an emergency room. I'm going to keep pushing to make that happen."

Earlier this year, the Senate approved legislation authored by Dorgan that would update the Indian Health Care Improvement Act for the first time in 16 years. The bill is currently under consideration in the House of Representatives.

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