The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold an oversight hearing this Thursday on contract health services.

The Indian Health Service uses the program to pay outside providers for care that it cannot provide at its facilities. Patients have discovered that the money runs out quickly, leading to the now common refrain -- "Don't get sick after June."

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the committee, asked tribes in April for comments on ways to improve the system.

The hearing takes place at 9:30am in Room 562 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. A witness list hasn't been published.

Get the Story:
OVERSIGHT HEARING on “Access to Contract Health Services in Indian Country” (June 26, 2008)

Relevant Documents:
Sen. Dorgan Letter | HHS Budget in Brief

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Senate committee to examine contract health services (4/7)