Health | Opinion | Politics

John Barrasso and John Thune: Reform the Indian Health Service

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Witnesses testify at a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 17, 2016. Photo by SCIA

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) explain why they introduced S.2953, the Indian Health Service Accountability Act, a bill to reform the troubled Indian Health Service:

Quality health care for Native Americans will require a culture change at the agency—from the leadership in Washington down to hospital staff in the field. Simply sending more money to IHS is not a solution, and it ignores the magnitude of the problems. According to HHS, Indian Health Service funding has grown by 43% since 2008. Some IHS hospitals in the Great Plains Area—which includes Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota—actually had money left over at the end of the last fiscal year, and chose not to spend it on patient care.
Tribes urgently seek accountability from the IHS. This should include mandatory reporting for patient-safety violations and cases of alleged retaliation against patients and whistleblowing employees. Partly because the federal hiring process is so cumbersome, it can take a year to fill staff vacancies. Firing a poor performer can take even longer, and requires an enormous amount of paperwork and documentation.
Hospitals make do by using temporary and costly doctors and nurses who may leave after only a few weeks. This is unacceptable. Where there are vacancies, hospitals should be required to fill them with permanent, quality providers. And they should be allowed to do so without months of wasteful bureaucratic delays.

Indianz.Com SoundCloud: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Field Hearing in Rapid City, South Dakota, June 17, 2016

The IHS employs many good people. They work under difficult conditions to deliver care in some of the poorest and most remote areas of the U.S. Although its employees deserve support and assistance, the agency has lacked competent and accountable leadership for far too long.
Because the IHS can no longer be a place where inept, entrenched employees come first and patients come last, we have introduced the IHS Accountability Act of 2016. Our bill improves transparency, makes it easier to fill jobs and reward good workers. It also eliminates barriers to disciplining or firing problem employees. The legislation requires Health and Human Services to increase its oversight of the IHS, including taking more responsibility for investigating patient deaths. It also improves protections for employees who report patient safety concerns.

Get the Story:
John Barrasso and John Thune: Government Hospitals Are Failing Native Americans (The Wall Street Journal 7/2)
Alternate Link: Barrasso and Thune Op-Ed: Government Hospitals Are Failing Native Americans (SCIA 7/2)

Government Accountability Office Report:
INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Patient Wait Times (April 29, 2016)

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Report:
In Critical Condition: The urgent need to reform the Indian Health Service’s Aberdeen Area (December 2010)