Your active participation in this NIHB/NCAI survey will provide us with the stories and facts to help move IHS Advance Appropriations over the finish line. ~ Thank you for your gift of time and knowledge.

Dear Tribal Leader & Tribal Health Leader:

 

Tribes need advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS) funding NOW. Our allies in Congress are asking for your stories to help get their colleagues on board. Members of Congress frequently ask, “Why do Tribes need Advance Appropriations?” and “How do funding disruptions harm Tribal Nations and their people?”

 

Since advance appropriations are merely advance agreements to provide funding at a later date, they are a budget-neutral and flexible solution to the outsized impacts of funding disruptions on Indian Country, allowing Congress to respond to changing real-world circumstances and challenges. The result is continuity of services that reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies and uncertainty for Tribal Nations and for the Federal government. Your unique experiences with the effects of federal funding disruptions are critical and will bring the need to light for Congress.

 

That is why the National Indian Health Board is partnering with the National Congress of American Indians to reach out to Tribes in order to amplify your voice and help save Native lives.  We are collecting primary data from Tribes on the impacts of government shutdowns on the delivery of Indian Health Services (IHS) Programs.

 

While Tribal leaders have previously shared this information during consultations, tribal town halls, and in Congressional testimony, Members of Congress continue to request specific examples of how current law can harm tribal health. When the government shuts down, when budget decisions are postponed with Continuing Resolutions, or when the Congress fails to complete the annual appropriation for Indian Health Service – what happens to your Tribe? What happens to your health care staff? What happens to your People?

 

Congress is closer to enactment of advance appropriations for IHS than ever before. Please complete the survey below and arm Indian Country for the battle ahead.  Once you have completed the survey, you will be routed to a separate link to enter to win a Pendleton for taking this survey. 

~ Thank you