The protection of the sovereignty of the Cherkee nation requires constant vigilance, in particular to ensure that the federal government respects its responsibilities of solemn trust to provide for the needs of the health and well-being of our people. Our nation -to -nation relationship requires a direct commitment and, recently, I have traveled to Washington, DC, to defend our communities at the 27th annual tribal budget consultation of the US Health and Social Services.
Chuck Hoskin Jr.
As the largest tribe in the United States, operating the country’s largest tribal health system with more than 2 million patient visits each year, Cherokee Nation has both a vital responsibility and opportunity to lead in these crucial discussions. Our health system is the backbone of care for citizens and communities in our reservation of 7,000 square miles. We have built world-class facilities and has filled them with talented and attentive doctors and nurses, but we just started to compensate for serious disparities in health resulting centuries of oppression and under-funding of our health care needs.
During the Round Table of Leadership of the Consultation, I warned of not making cuts to the Indian health service and its financing agreements which allow tribes like the Cherokee nation to manage our own facilities. I have strongly defended the success of the credits of the IHS advance, which protects the care of the life or the death of government closings and offers essential stability of financing from one year to the other for Indian health programs. I also took alarms at the end of vital federal subsidies intended to build long -term public health infrastructure for the Indian country.
Beyond the direct funding of the IHS, I highlighted the importance of programs at the service of our children and the alumni. I urged the HHS to maintain support for Head Start, where Cherokee Nation serves more than 900 children and started $ 80 million in tribal funds to modernize our facilities in our reservation, taking advantage of around $ 11 million in annual federal funds. Continuous funding for the low -income energy assistance program (LIHEAP), which provided $ 1.9 million to Cherokee Nation this year, is also crucial to help seniors and families manage extreme temperatures without making impossible choices between heating and food.
I highlighted the essential role of Medicaid, which supports care at around 30% of our patients and provides income from the health system that we immediately reinvest in more and better care for all patients. I asked that any potential change in Medicaid be exempt from American Indians and Alaska natives and protect federal reimbursement at 100% of tribal care to assume responsibility for the trust.
The challenges faced by the request of the Indian country supported the federal commitment. Annual budget consultation is only one part. This is why I also sit on the Tribal Advisory Committee of the HHS Secretary and I chair the Tribal Health Advisory Committee Resources and Services Administration, and the deputy chief Bryan Warner chairs the Tribal Consultative Committee for Centers for Disease Control. Thanks to these regular forums, we maintain a continuous dialogue with senior federal officials, pushing for progress on the development of labor, remote ants, diabetes prevention, etc.
Our advocacy guarantees that the federal government directly intends to the realities on the ground. The responsibility for federal confidence does not concern politics; It is a constitutional and moral obligation rooted in the treaties and sacrifices of our ancestors. Although the US government has progressed in relation to the time when it actively sought to suppress tribal sovereignty, there remains a lot of work.
My commitment to federal health officials in the last month, of course, went beyond postponing funding and programs reductions and unilateral policy changes. I reached a hand of friendship on behalf of the Cherkee nation. I said to the managers – including the HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – that if they wanted to see a health system that manages circles around the federal government and is increasingly complete and holistic, I will welcome them to visit Cherokee Nation.
By committing directly, speaking with force for our people and holding the responsible federal government, we strengthen the basics of health, well-being and prosperity of the Cherokee nation for future generations. I will never stop defending our rights and guarantee that the promises made to the Cherokee people are held.