A bipartite group of senators sent a letter To the Secretary of Health and Social Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., warning him that cuts to the agency could have a serious impact on the Indian Health Service (IHS).
The letter – delivered on Tuesday in meaning. Jeff Merkley (D- Ore.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)- have expressed their concern about the IHS capacity to take care of more than 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska.
In April, HHS began to fire around 10,000 workers and consolidate 28 institutes and centers in 15 new divisions. Including around 10,000 people who have left in recent months thanks to advanced retirement programs or deferred resignation, overall HHS staff should go from 82,000 to around 62,000 – or approximately a quarter of their workforce.
The IHS has been exempt from the reductions in the staffing of staff of probationary employees, but the senators noted that cuts to other agencies within the HHS which serve the native communities have an impact on the IHS.
They added that the freezing freezing exacerbates existing critical endowment problems, including the need for laboratory technicians and administrative staff.
A small child heads to the gateway to the Indian Public Health Services hospital on the Standing Reserve in Fort Yates, ND, October 14, 2008.
Will Kincaid / AP
“We urge you to take immediate measures to ensure that IHS programs serving indigenous communities have the resources and staff necessary to fulfill their missions and stop any other action affecting the provision of tribal health care without first engaging in a significant tribal consultation,” said the letter.
Merkley, Shatz and Murkowski also described in the letter how the American Indians and Alaska natives are an incredibly vulnerable population “is late in almost all health metrics.”
In the National Health Interview Survey 2023 – Managed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) – 21.8% of those who identify as only American or Alaska Indians declared to be healthy or badwhich was the highest rate observed among any racial or ethnic group.
NCHS data show that the American Indians and Alaska Alagles are disproportionately affected By diabetes, angina of chest – which is chest pain caused by a drop in blood flow to the heart – and a handicap.
In addition, the American Indians and Alaska Alagles have the lowest life expectancy of any racial or ethnic group in the United States with an average hope of 67.9 years in 2022, according to the CDC.
“Indigenous communities deserve reliable access to quality health care, and we urge you to reassess all the actions that endanger the provision of all health services for American Indians and Alaska Alagius,” the senators wrote.
HHS did not immediately respond to ABC News’ comment request
Cheyenne Haslett from ABC News and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
