A bill to improve the quality of health care for American Indians by providing health care educational opportunities encouraging maximum involvement of Indians in the creation, planning, and implementation of health care programs directly affecting their needs, by improving substandard health care facilities, by encouraging research into all facets of Indian health care problems, and for other purposes.
American Indian Health Care Education and Improvement Act - Expresses the findings of Congress. Declares that it is the policy of this Nation to meet the national goal of providing the highest possible health status to Indians and to provide existing Indian health services with all resources necessary to effect that policy. Defines the terms used in this Act.
Title I: Indian Health Manpower - Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make scholarship grants to specified health care individuals who agree to provide their professional services to Indians after completion of training. Prescribes the priorities to be followed in awarding such scholarships and the procedures to be followed if an individual fails to comply.
Authorizes appropriations totaling $92,000,000 for fiscal years 1975 through 1978, and $36,000,000 for fiscal year 1979 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Empowers the Secretary to make scholarship grants to Indians for undergraduate programs in the health care areas. Authorizes appropriations for such grants.
Authorizes the Secretary to make scholarship grants to individuals who: (1) are currently employed by the Indian Health Service and who agree to continue such employment; and (2) are engaged in the field of Indian health care and who agree to provide services for a period of two years for each study grant. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes.
Title II: Health Services - Authorizes the Secretary to expend, through the Service, $123,500,000 over a five-fiscal-year period to eliminate health service backlogs. Authorizes the appropriation of such amount for specified purposes, including patient care, field health, dental care, and maintenance and repair.
Title III: Health Facilities - States that, for the purpose of eliminating inadequate, outdated, and otherwise unsatisfactory Service hospitals, health centers, stations, and other Service facilities, the Secretary is authorized to expend $400,000,000 over a five-fiscal-year period, in accordance with a specified schedule.
Empowers the Secretary to expend, for the purpose of reducing health hazards, $470,000,000 over five fiscal years to supply unmet needs for safe water and sanitary waste disposal facilities in Indian homes and communities.
Title IV: Access to Health Services - Provides that for purposes of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, the Service facilities used to provide health care to Indians are deemed to be accredited facilities and may receive payment for such services.
Title V: Access to Health Services for Urban Indians - Defines the term "urban Indian." Empowers the Secretary to enter into contracts with urban Indian organizations to provide Federal assistance to such organizations for establishing outreach programs to make urban Indians knowledgeable of the health service resources available. Enumerates the conditions of such contracts and the criteria for selecting Indian urban organizations for contracts.
Authorizes to be appropriated for the purpose of this title $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1975; $4,000,000 for fiscal year 1976; and $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1977.
Title VI: Access to Health Services for Rural Indians - Defines the term "rural Indian." Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide grants to Indian tribal units requesting financial assistance for transportation and communication systems designed to assist in the delivery of medical care to rural Indians; (2) provide professional assistance for such systems; and (3) prescribe criteria for the awarding of such grants.
Authorizes appropriations for carrying out the purposes of this title.
Title VII: Indian Health Problem Research - Requires the Secretary to direct the National Science Foundation to provide grants for research into disease and immunology among Indians, and other specified areas of Indian health concern. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes.
Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Directs the Secretary to report annually to the President and the Congress on the progress made in effecting the purposes of this Act.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
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