Native Americans have received federally funded health care for decades. A series of treaties, court cases and acts passed by Congress requires that the government provide low-cost and, in many cases, free care to American Indians. The Indian Health Service (IHS) is charged with delivering that care.
So, how’s that working out for them. Not so good, actually.
Unfortunately, Indians are not getting healthier under the federal system. In 2007, rates of infant mortality among Native Americans across the country were 1.4 times higher than non-Hispanic whites and rates of heart disease were 1.2 times higher. HIV/AIDS rates were 30% higher, and rates of liver cancer and inflammatory bowel disease were two times higher. Diabetes-related death rates were four times higher. On average, life expectancy is four years shorter for Native Americans than the population as a whole.
Hmmmm. I think all we need to do is scale it up. The bureaucracy is just not quite big enough. Yeah, that’s the ticket!
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One of my guys used to work on a res. Crazy stories. Of all the injustices done to this ethnic group, freedom from monetary responsibility is by far the worst and most insidious. Ask any Ukrainian.