January 2013 Blogs

Update on Contract Support Costs

Today I am sending an update to Tribes on Contract Support Costs (CSC) as a follow-up to my September 24, 2012, letter to Tribes. The focus of the letter is to reassure Tribes that IHS has been moving forward in its implementation of the recent Supreme Court decision, that we are working on making our CSC claims process more efficient, and that we have scheduled a meeting with over 20 lawyers representing Tribes to hear proposed strategies to continue moving forward on this important issue. Here is a copy of the letter [PDF - 62K].

IHS Listening Session Announcement

On July 26, 2012, IHS posted a draft Policy on Conferring with Urban Indian Organizations in the Federal Register and sent a letter to Tribes requesting consultation input. IHS received input and has been working on revisions to the draft policy. IHS is offering an additional opportunity to provide input on the draft policy during an IHS Listening Session to be held on January 22, 2013, at IHS Headquarters in Rockville, MD. The session is open for any interested individuals to attend. The following links provide more information:

• Federal Register Notice for Draft Policy on Conferring with Urban Indian Organizations, July 26, 2012 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Federal Register Notice for IHS Urban Listening Session, January 11, 2013 Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Dear Tribal Leader Letter [PDF - 26K]
• Agenda [PDF-124K]
• Urban Confer Website

Update on IHS Budget

I sent an update to Tribes in December on the IHS Budget with information on how our funding is distributed and other related updates. Here is the letter [PDF - 40KB] and the attachment [PDF - 103KB].