Abourezk: Hope for Indian health care reform
Friday, January 25, 2008
Filed Under:
Health
|
Opinion
"It's a story we know well.
We've heard it a thousand painful times.
And it never gets any easier to hear.
But this week, as a North Dakota senator told that familiar story on the U.S. Senate floor, I began to experience an unfamiliar sense of hope.
That hope came as Byron Dorgan focused a a national spotlight on the ugly truth about Native health care during debate on the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
That hope came as Dorgan - his voice fueled by righteous indignation - related the story of Ta'Shon Rain Littlelight, a 5-year-old Crow girl from Montana who died in her mother's arms the night before she was to see Cinderella's Castle at Disney World because her cancer was not diagnosed early.
That hope came as he berated this country's leaders for allowing the death of Avis Littlewind, a 14-year-old girl who lay for 90 days curled up in a fetal position on her bed before killing herself because no treatment center existed on her reservation to help her.
That hope came as Dorgan and his fellow co-sponsors of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act put a human face on a problem ubiquitous to Native people - the problem of Indian health care.
Like the hope that comes the first time a long-buried secret is told - the hope that the only course left is out of the darkness - I can't help but feel that maybe true change is on the way for Indian health care."
Get the Story:
Kevin Abourezk: Senator's Plea for Indian Health Care Reform Sparks Hope
(RezNet News 1/25)
Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments:
S.1200
|
H.R.1328
House Energy and Commerce Committee Documents:
Summary
|
Manager's
Amendment |
Press
Release |
Webcast
Relevant Documents:
Letter
to President Bush |
Letter
to Alberto Gonzales |
DOJ
White Paper
Relevant Links:
Indian Health Service -
http://www.ihs.gov National
Indian Health Board -
http://www.nihb.org
Related Stories:
Senate vote on IHCIA delayed until next week
(1/24)
Day 2 of Senate debate on
Indian Health Care (1/23)
Northwest
tribes await outcome of IHCIA vote (1/23)
Senate opens long-delayed debate on IHCIA
(1/22)
Sen. Coburn won't hold up Indian
health bill (1/21)
Abourezk: GOP
candidates silent on IHCIA (1/18)
Senate
expected to vote on Indian Health Care Act (1/17)
Sen. Dorgan: Indian health care an
embarrassment (12/7)
Arizona rebuffed on
Indian health care costs (12/4)
House
subcommittee approves Indian health care bill (11/08)
IHCIA delayed but could come up next week
(10/26)
Long-delayed IHCIA set for vote in
Senate (10/22)
Indian health care
leaders win prestigious award (10/04)
Indian Country rallies for health care in U.S.
Capitol (09/13)
Copyright © Indianz.Com
Subscribe