In This Issue

The White House Tribal Nations Conference will be held on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, at the Capital Hilton located at 1001 16th St NW, Washington, D.C., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Supplementary programming will take place the afternoon of December 2nd (please click here for a draft agenda and FAQ).  

On Tuesday, November 4, the United States voters chose to make a change in who controls the US Senate and the margin by which the House of Representatives is controlled.  In the Senate, Republicans gained several seats; they will now control the body by a 53 to 46 margin (In Louisiana, candidates will have a runoff election on December 6).  In the House of Representatives, Republicans netted a gain of 13 seats; the breakdown of that Chamber is 244-184 with a few races still undecided.  Click here for a full tally of election results by State and Congressional District.

A path forward on FY 2015 Appropriations is still not clear.  Many in Congressional Leadership on both sides of the aisle are arguing that FY 2015 appropriations should be completed in a single "omnibus" appropriations bill by December 11.  This is the day when the current continuing resolution (CR) will expire.  Others, however, are calling for Congress to put off this decision until January or early February and enact another CR.  Still others, have said that Congress may choose to enact a full-year CR which would keep FY 2015 spending at FY 2014 levels.

Passing full-year appropriations would be more beneficial for the IHS/ Tribal and Urban health programs because they would be able to operate with knowledge of their budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. An omnibus would also ensure that current spending priorities are funded at needed amounts.  One example of this is in Contract Support Costs (CSC) where IHS had to cut $25.1 million at the end of the year from other programs in order to fill unmet CSC need.

King v. Burwell, a case that could determine whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) remains in its current form.  The case centers on the question of whether premium tax credits should only be available in state-based marketplaces, and not federally-facilitated marketplace.  Currently, they are available in both.  This past July, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that the tax credits only applied to state- based exchanges and not federally-facilitated marketplace.  However, the D.C. Circuit agreed to rehear the same case en banc (reviewed by the entire panel of judges who sit on the D.C. Circuit) in December.   It surprised many when the Supreme Court agreed to hear this case before the D.C. Circuit could issue a new opinion.

The ACA provides a federal tax credit to low and middle income Americans to offset the cost of insurance policies purchased through the marketplace.  The marketplaces advance an individual's eligible tax credit dollars directly to health insurance providers as a means of reducing the upfront cost of plans to consumers.  The ACA gives primary responsibility for establishing the marketplaces to individual states. If a state does not create its own marketplace, the federal government, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), establishes and operates the marketplace within the state. The Supreme Court will now hear the issue to determine whether this is authorized under the law.

King v. Burwell does not threaten the Indian Health Care Improvement Act but it may mean significant changes to the other parts of the ACA, especially the premium tax credit.  Given the fact that nearly 5 million people have already received subsidies through the federally-facilitated marketplace, the Court will likely defer to Congress to fix the error.  Since the Court won't likely hear the case until sometime in the spring, there is time to strategize how we can best ensure the Indian-specific provisions are protected.  

NIHB will keep you updated as this case develops.  For further information or if you have any questions, please contact Devin Delrow at [email protected] or (202) 507-4072.

On November 10, President Barack Obama named nineteen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Suzan Harjo, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, is among President Obama's awardees. 

Suzan Harjo is a writer, curator, and activist who has advocated for improving the lives of Native peoples throughout her career.  As a member of the Carter Administration and as current president of the Morning Star Institute, she has been a key figure in many important Indian legislative battles, including the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. 

The Indian Health Service is conducting weekly updates on the Ebola outbreak. The webinars are scheduled weekly for the foreseeable future. This is a good opportunity to learn about treatment updates; hospital, clinical and provider preparedness; and the latest epidemiological reports on the outbreak. 

To join the webinars, log on to: http://ihs.adobeconnect.com/roundsmisc and use room passcode "rounds".  The webinars are every Thursday at 1:00 PM eastern time.

On November 13, at 2:30-3:30pm EST, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will host a call on Influenza and Ebola updates.

USA Toll Free: 1-800-369-3345

International: +1-312-470-0182  

Verbal Passcode: EBOLA

Please click here for more information.

The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) is currently accepting applications and nominations for the Champions for Change (CFC) program! CFC, designed to recognize and encourage positive Native youth-led efforts, has provided incredible opportunities for Native youth to grow as leaders both in their Tribal or urban Indian communities, as well as at the national level. The first two classes of Champions have participated in White House events, connected with their members of Congress, received fundraising and advocacy training from experts, and traveled across the country inspiring other Native youth. If you know of an awesome Native youth, nominate them using this form. If YOU are a Native youth making a positive impact in your community, start your application today!