Does the Affordable Health Care for America Act address the Indian Health System?
Rep. Luján fought to make sure that Native Americans benefited from health insurance reform. Taxpayers who are eligible for health care services as members of a federally-recognized Indian Tribe are treated as having satisfied the individual responsibility requirement. Health coverage that is provided by a tribe to a tribal member is excluded from the tribal member’s taxable income. Standards for qualified health benefit plans, including the public option, are modified to provide for rules regarding Indian enrollees and Indian health care providers. Language to permanently reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), which governs the Indian Health Care System (IHS), is also included in H.R. 3962. IHS is the provider of choice for many Native American patients. Unfortunately, IHCIA was last reauthorized in 1992, and that reauthorization expired eight years ago. Reauthorization will allow much-needed reforms to the Indian Health Service to move forward.
