Health Care in Indian Country: How Medicaid Expansion Can Help

Sep 19, 2016

By MBPC Staff

Contemporary American Indian health concerns have been the topic of a four-part newspaper series by Billings Gazette journalist Jayme Fraser. The articles shed light on the decades-long issue of health disparities that are largely grounded in the inability of the Indian Health Service to meet the health care needs of American Indians. They also review various efforts to improve Indian health currently being undertaken by tribes, individual tribal health/IHS facility administrators, and public and private entities, particularly through nationwide healthcare reforms made available through the Affordable Care Act. One of those measures encouraged states to expand the income eligibility requirements for Medicaid, which the Montana legislature did in 2015. After that, people earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level could enroll in Medicaid. This extended critical health care coverage to an estimated 19,547 American Indians in Montana. Between November 2, 2015, when enrollment began, and September 1, 2016, the number of newly eligible American Indians who enrolled in Medicaid stands at 6,737, or 30 percent of the total number eligible. American Indian enrollment steadily increases each month, though the rate at which they are enrolling is beginning to slow slightly, demonstrating the need for a more concerted outreach and enrollment effort. Our latest report details some of the ways outreach and enrollment workers can maximize their success in Indian Country. It is paramount that those engaged in coverage enrollment efforts understand the intricacies of how American Indians access health care. For example, knowing that American Indians have historically tended not to have health insurance, relying instead on the Indian Health Service, helps explain why American Indians may be less inclined to explore other coverage options. Likewise, having an understanding of the historical and contemporary basis of IHS and being able to articulate the precise benefits of having Medicaid coverage are also necessary. It is also important to know the barriers the eligible demographic faces in accessing information and completing the enrollment process. Besides supporting current outreach and enrollment efforts, the single most important thing the state can do to help the remaining eligible American Indians access the critical health care they need is to maintain the current eligibility requirements included in the HELP Act.