Dear Secretary Becerra,
We write on behalf of United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) “Dear Tribal Leader” letter of August 12, 2021, seeking input and recommendations on mandatory funding approaches for the Indian Health Service (IHS). USET SPF has long advocated for mandatory funding for all federal Indian programs, which is more consistent with perpetual federal trust and treaty obligations. We strongly support full and mandatory funding for IHS as a critical step forward in better delivering upon these obligations. We further underscore the urgent nature of this initiative, as well as the unique opportunity before us, and stand ready to assist in making mandatory funding for IHS a reality.
The chronic underfunding of federal Indian programs continues to have disastrous impacts upon Tribal governments and Native peoples. As the United States continues to break its promises to us, despite its own prosperity, Native peoples experience some of the greatest disparities among all populations in this country and have for generations. These intolerable levels of disparities have resulted in unacceptably high mortality rates for Native peoples. For too long, we have become all too familiar with the unnecessary and avoidable death of our loved ones from health outcomes that should have been properly addressed through full and mandatory healthcare funding to best serve our people. It is no surprise, then, that the failures of the federal government came into horrifyingly sharper focus due to the global pandemic. And one only need look to the state of the Indian Healthcare System amid the public health emergency to understand the deadly impacts of decades of insufficient and unstable healthcare funding.
USET SPF is heartened to see that the Department is consulting on this long-standing and long overdue Tribal priority, and that this proposal clearly has support across the Administration. In recognition of the opportunities for collaboration between the current Administration and the current Congress, we strongly urge you to immediately convene a joint Tribal-federal Workgroup to devise a more complete mandatory funding proposal. Please count USET SPF as a partner in your efforts to deliver a legacy of change for Tribal Nations, Native people, and the sacred trust relationship. This includes the enactment of policies that uphold our status as sovereign governments, our right to self-determination and self-governance, and honor the federal trust obligation in full.
Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Liz Malerba, USET SPF Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, at (615) 838-5906 or by e-mail at lmalerba@usetinc.org.
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