Authors: National Council of Urban Indian Health

Publication Year: 2009

Last Updated: 2016-04-21

Journal: NCUIH

Keywords: ARRA, American recovery and re-investment act of 2009, IHCIA, Indian health care improvement act, stimulus, SCHIP, children's health insurance, affordable care act

Abstract: President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 this past Tuesday after several weeks of intense debate and work in Congress. NCUIH, working with NIHB and NCAI worked to ensure that key provisions from Title II of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and critical appropriations for Indian health care were included in the bill. Although NCUIH was unsuccessful in obtaining the 20 million for Urban Indian health facilities renovation and construction in the ARRA, we were successful in securing several key changes to the Social Security Act with regard to Medicaid, Medicare and SCHIP.  NCUIH is still in the process of fully analyzing the bill and the new health provisions that it has introduced. Many of the new provisions regarding health care deliveryparticularly the provisions regarding health information technology and comparative effectiveness researchhave the potential to drastically change health policy and health care delivery. NCUIH will be preparing an in depth analysis of these provisions and the potential impact that they could have upon Urban Indian Health Program clinics and programs in the upcoming weeks. NCUIH will also be working with other health organizations to ensure that as the Department of Health and Human Services implements these changes, Urban Indian health concerns are heard.

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