The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) held its First Quarter Board of Directors Meeting and Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on March 7 and 8, 2023. During this meeting, the Board received updates from NIHB staff on 2023 goals in the areas of policy, advocacy, programs and organizational operations. Board Members and NIHB Member Organization staff provided updates from their Areas to highlight priority issues that should be brought to the national level. The Board ratified NIHB’s 2023 Legislative and Policy Agenda. As this was the Annual Meeting for the organization, elections for the Executive Committee were held. Alaska Area Representative William Smith (Valdez Native Tribe) was re-elected Chairperson. Albuquerque Area Representative Jacqueline Platero (To’hajilee Band of Navajos) was elected Secretary. Great Plains Area Representative Janet Alkire (Standing Rock Sioux) was elected Member-At-Large. This will be Ms. Platero and Ms. Alkire’s first term on the Executive Committee. They join Vice Chairperson Nickolaus Lewis (Lummi Nation) and Treasurer Samuel Moose (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), who continue their terms on the Executive Committee.

The Board had the opportunity to meet with Daron Carriero (Chickasaw Nation), Senior Policy Advisor for Native Affairs, White House Domestic Policy Council and PaaWee Rivera (Pueblo of Pojoaque), Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, White House. They expressed gratitude to NIHB for its work to secure advanced appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS). Mr. Carriero and Mr. Rivera also discussed additional policy initiatives, such as mandatory appropriations and securing renewal of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians. The Board met with Elizabeth Molle-Carr, (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa), Tribal Advisor to the Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Board discussed the upcoming OMB Tribal Consultation on data collection and how that can improve health funding and grants.

The Board welcomed Roselyn Tso (Navajo Nation), Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Ms. Tso provided updates on Indian Health Service’s priorities, including quality assurance and relationships with partners and Tribes. The Director plans to visit all 12 regions in this calendar year. Indian Health Service also shared updates on National Tribal Budget Formulation and that the funding distributions from the CAREs Act and other COVID related funding will be posted on the IHS website in coming days. 

The Board also met with Marvin Figueroa, Director, Intergovernmental and External Affairs, and Devin Delrow (Navajo Nation), Associate Director for Tribal Affairs, Intergovernmental and External Affairs, both from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They also expressed their appreciation to NIHB for its partnership to pass advanced appropriations for IHS. They shared updates on the status of Tribal data sharing policies and the HHS Tribal Consultation Policy. In regard to public health, they are also shared updates about Tribal access to the Strategic National Stockpile and the end of the public health emergency. Finally, the Board met with Travis Trueblood (Choctaw Nation), Director of the Office of Tribal Health with the Veterans’ Administration (VA). Mr. Trueblood provided an overview of the newly-formed Office of Tribal Health, whose mission is to strengthen the VA commitment to the American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans by supporting exceptional healthcare and wellbeing.

NIHB Board Members also visited Capitol Hill to speak with Congressional staff about appropriations and budget and renewal of the Special Diabetes program for Indians. They met with staff from the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and House Natural Resources Committee, Office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Office of Senator Tina Smith, Office of Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Office of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and Office of Congresswoman Mary Peltola.

The NIHB Board passed two resolutions during this meeting: 

NIHB Resolution 23-01 Supporting Tribal Climate Coordination

This resolution supports a legislative initiative to allow Tribes needing to relocate or practice managed retreat in face of climate. A growing number of Tribal Nations urgently need to relocate their reservations, villages, and communities due to threats from erosion, flooding, permafrost degradation and other threats. The federal relocation programs that do exist are drastically underfunded, would only cover the cost of relocating one small Tribal community, and often contain matching requirements which are not possible for many Tribal Nations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has found unmet relocation infrastructure needs of about $3.5 billion over the next 50 years for Alaska alone, and for the Lower 48, BIA found unmet relocation infrastructure needs of about $1.4 billion. The National Indian Health Board urges Congress to create a federal program located in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Department of Interior that would assist Tribal Nations with sufficient funding for community-driven relocation and other environmental mitigation efforts, in coordination with the necessary federal partners.

NIHB Resolution 23-02 on Loan Payment Program Tax Exemption

This resolution calls for Indian Health Service (IHS) student loans/scholarships to be tax exempt. The Loan Repayment Program (LRP) grants healthcare professionals who work for 2 years in IHS and Tribal health facilities, up to $20,000 per year in loan repayment. These loan repayments are taxable, despite other similar programs having an exemption in statute. The IHS pays the taxes to take the burden off of the participants. If IHS did not have to fund those taxes, they could fund 200 more people each year to work and stay in Tribal health facilities. NIHB urges Congress to enact legislation to make IHS scholarship and loan repayment programs tax exempt.

The Board of Directors will be present at NIHB’s upcoming National Tribal Health Conference on May 1-5 in Anchorage, Alaska (Click here for more information). The next quarterly Board Meeting will be June 21-22 in Washington, DC. Please address any questions to Jennifer Speight at jspeight@nihb.org.