"Urban Indian health clinics are a lifeline for tribal members who live in cities off reservations. The Bush administration has proposed to sever that lifeline.

The entire budget savings from eliminating all the urban Indian health clinics in the country would be $33 million. About $4 million of that amount would be money that Montana clinics are counting on as their core funding.

Tribal leaders convening in Billings last week for the annual health conference sponsored by the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council said that the loss of urban clinic funding would require people to drive longer distances for care on reservations and would further tax inadequate Indian health resources. There are already plenty of horror stories about long waits and difficulty accessing care at Indian Health Service facilities that have more needy patients than money.

At the Indian Health Board of Billings, 1127 Alderson Ave., director Marjorie Bear Don't Walk worries that many of her clients wouldn't get care at all if the clinic closed because they have no transportation and little money. The clinic doesn't charge and it doesn't turn anyone away.

"We're in need of expanding, and we're about to be done in," Bear Don't Walk said."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Don't let Bush cut health care for urban Indians (The Billings Gazette 4/10)

FY2007 HHS Budget in Brief:
HTML | PDF

Relevant Links:
Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders - http://www.mtwytlc.com
Indian Health Service - http://www.ihs.gov

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