Biden Administration Moves to Make Funding for Indian Health Service Mandatory

The White House unveiled on Monday a significant proposed shift in the way the Indian Health Service was funded as part of its 2023 budget, proposing the health care agency move from discretionary to mandatory funding.

The budget request for the Indian Health Service calls for increasing the agency’s budget to $9.1 billion, a more than 20 percent increase from the previous funding level, in an effort to keep pace with growing health care costs, population growth and service and facility shortcomings.

The budget request also includes funding to address modernizing the service’s electronic health records system, health inequities and backlogs on the health care facilities’ construction priority list.

The move is another step aimed to address the systemic problems plaguing the agency responsible for delivering health care to Native Americans across the country.