Senate Indian Affairs Committee to look at 'substandard' care at IHS in Great Plains

The "substandard" health care in a particularly troublesome region of Indian Country will be the focus of a hearing on Capitol Hill later this month.

The Great Plains Area of the Indian Health Service has been under intense scrutiny for several years due to management failures and cutbacks in care. Despite the known deficiencies, top officials remain in charge within the region despite calls by tribal leaders for more accountability.

In Nebraska, the Winnebago Service Unit lost its Medicare funding last July. Leaders of the Omaha Tribe and the Winnebago Tribe were incensed because the IHS knew of the situation more than a year prior but did not correct the problems that were raised by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

http://www.indianz.com/News/2016/020036.asp