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IHS Awards Grants to Three Tribes and Tribal Organizations for Self-Governance Planning and Negotiation Activities
The Indian Health Service (IHS) has awarded Fiscal Year 2017 Planning and Negotiation Cooperative Agreement awards to three tribes and tribal organizations. These annual IHS cooperative agreement awards support tribes and tribal organizations with the planning and preparation necessary to assume responsibility for providing health care to their tribal members.
Tribes have the right to assume responsibility for providing health care to their members and to operate and manage health care programs or services previously provided by IHS, subject to certain requirements.
“IHS continues to work with tribes interested in entering self-governance compacts in order to support the shared goal of both IHS and tribes in providing quality health care to American Indian and Alaska Native patients,” said IHS Acting Director Rear Admiral Michael D. Weahkee. “The partnership with IHS and self-governance tribes is an excellent example of cooperation in providing access to quality health care for our Native communities.”
The Planning Cooperative Agreement helps tribes with the planning phase of the self-governance program, which includes legal and budgetary research, internal tribal government planning, and organization preparation relating to the administration of health care programs. The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians/Rolling Hills Clinic in Corning, Calif., received $120,000 for planning activities.
The Negotiation Cooperative Agreement assists tribes to defray the costs related to preparing for and conducting self-governance program negotiations. Negotiations provide an opportunity for the tribal and federal negotiation teams to work together in good faith to enhance each self-governance agreement. Two tribes from Arizona, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, received $48,000 to minimize negotiation costs.
The IHS Office of Tribal Self-Governance develops and oversees the implementation of tribal self-governance legislation and authorities within the IHS, and provides information, technical assistance and policy coordination in support of IHS self-governance activities, with input from IHS staff and workgroups, tribes and tribal organizations, and the IHS Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee.
The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.
