Montana: Indian Health Service care criticized as 'genocidal' despite improvement efforts
Dr. Lynelle Noisy Hawk became clinical director of Crow-Northern Cheyenne Hospital almost two years ago, but some boxes still sit full on her office floor. She’s just not had time to unpack them.
“It’s tough,” she said. “Some days you’re like, ‘Why do I do this?’ because it gets so stressful.”
Health care jobs are tough anywhere, but Indian Country providers face unique financial, bureaucratic and community health challenges that add up to one stark fact: Native Americans, on average, live 20 years less than other Montanans.
Noisy Hawk and others working on Montana’s seven reservations have launched creative strategies to improve health in their communities. In the past year, the Affordable Care Act and recent state Medicaid expansion have come to the forefront of those discussions. If more people enroll for insurance, those patients can have more options for care while clinics can bill those policies to expand their budgets and therefore services offered. Yet, insurance alone cannot close the life expectancy gap.
Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/indian-health-service-care-criticized-as-genocidal-despite-improvement-efforts/article_7e420932-83d1-5c30-a3ca-339a2e8264e0.html
Montana News is being cross-posted to http://democratsforever.freeforums.net/board/47/montana .
