Five Civilized Tribes Inter-Tribal Council meets

CONTRIBUTED BY Gene Lehmann, Media Relations.

This article appeared in the August 2014 edition of the Chickasaw Times

\THACKERVILLE, Okla. – Tribal sovereignty, Native health concerns and a day of national prayer were issues on which action was approved unanimously July 11 by the Inter-Tribal Council (ITC) of the Five Civilized Tribes.

On health, the ITC backed federal legislation sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum, Minnesota’s 4th District representative and co-sponsored by Oklahoma 4th District Rep. Tom Cole, a Chickasaw. Known as the Native Contract and Rate Expenditure (CARE) act, it would “improve access to health care for Native Americans,” the ITC resolution states.

The CARE act requires non-hospital providers accept Medicare rates from the Purchased/Referred Care program (PRC). Hospitals must accept PRC rates when treating Natives. According to the resolution, Indian Health Service (IHS) routinely pays the entire billed rate to non-hospital providers.

With IHS funding at 59 percent of total need, the five tribes declared the Act would improve Native American access to health care. It pointed to a 2013 Government Accountability Office report showing IHS and tribal health facilities could provide millions of dollars in additional care if the act was approved by Congress. The ITC voted for positive political action on the Cole-McCollum measure “in the interest of long, healthy lives for our children and grandchildren.”

Underfunded Indian health in Oklahoma also was addressed by the council.

ITC leaders are concerned the Oklahoma Health Care Authority may reduce or even eliminate certain Medicaid services in Oklahoma “in order to operate within a declining budget due in part to the reduction in the federal match of approximately $50 million per year.” Cuts would “directly affect available resources for critical health care systems operated by tribes and IHS,” the ITC observed.

The proposed limits would harshly affect Native health care in traditionally rural and isolated areas.

The ITC resolution calls for current levels of Medicaid services be maintained and requests the state exempt Medicaid reductions to rural Native patients.

In other matters, the ITC:

• Moved toward creation of an Indian Child Welfare Committee which would be managed by the tribes’ five top leaders in collaboration with each tribe’s public relations department. A year ago, the adoption of a Cherokee child by non-Natives – coupled with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck a blow at the heart of the Indian Child Welfare Act – stirred strong emotions in Indian Country.

• Urged the U.S. Department of Interior to add an additional location for tribal consultation concerning proposed revisions to the process of federal acknowledgement of American Indian tribes. Since many groups seeking federal recognition claim to be descendants of tribes relocated to Oklahoma, the ITC requested a tribal consultation and public hearing be scheduled in Oklahoma.

• Established a judicial committee to “address common concerns of the Five Civilized Tribes’ Tribal Courts.”

• Issued a Proclamation declaring the first Saturday of November as National Day of Prayer.