Today, the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs held a legislative hearing on the Restoring Accountability in the Indian Health Service Act of 2023. Subcommittee Chair Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) issued the following statement in response:

“The IHS has long been plagued with issues of substandard medical care, high staff vacancy rates, aging facilities and equipment, and unqualified or predatory healthcare staff. The legislation considered today would promote the tools necessary for IHS to streamline processes and provide the tools necessary for the IHS to recruit and retain high quality employees, protect patients, and improve care. We owe it to our American Indian and Alaska Native communities to provide better healthcare options and outcomes.”

Background

The Indian Health Service (IHS) has long been plagued with issues of substandard medical care, high staff vacancy rates, aging facilities and equipment and unqualified or predatory health care staff. Many of these issues first came to national attention in 2010 as the result of an investigation conducted by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

The inability of the IHS to attract and retain quality health care professionals is a factor in the failure to provide quality care, leading to hiring sub-par candidates. Other factors include perverse incentives to retain mediocre employees and challenges to fully staff IHS facilities.

Today's hearing focused on a Discussion Draft of the Restoring Accountability in the Indian Service Act of 2023, led by U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.). This act would amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to improve incentives for recruitment and retention of high-quality IHS employees, improve hiring practices, streamline processes for dismissal of Senior Executive Service (SES) and General Schedule (GS) IHS employees for misconduct and improve whistleblower protections.