Reps. Randall, Ruiz lead 18 Dem Colleagues In Letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy to Address Gaps in Tribal Health Grant Funding

WASHINGTON, DC - Yesterday, U.S. House Representatives Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Raul Ruiz (D, CA-25), led 18 Democratic colleagues in a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy raising concerns about recent changes to federal grant eligibility that could undermine health care services in Native communities.

"Despite the high percentage of [American Indian and Alaska Native] people in urban areas, the urban Indian health line-item makes up only about 1 percent of the [Indian Health Service] (IHS) budget and for some [Urban Indian Organizations] (UIOs), IHS funding covers less than half of their budget," the members wrote in the letter. "Because of this, UIOs rely heavily on other federal grants from multiple HHS agencies to carry out their functions. Cuts or changes to these grants will disproportionately impact UIOs ability to carry out their mission and serve their patients."

The lawmakers warn that updated guidance limits eligibility to "Tribes" and "Tribal organizations," excluding Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs) from applying. This shift threatens critical funding streams that support high-quality, culturally grounded health care for American Indian and Alaska Native people - including the approximately 87% who live in urban areas.

"As a result of HHS's restricting, we are concerned that UIOs are now at risk of losing eligibility for funding streams that were previously available to the entire [Indian Health Service, Tribal Health Services, and Urban Indian Health Programs] (I/T/U) system because the language used in some grant eligibility criteria only mentions "tribes and tribal organizations" as eligible entities," the members continued. "We believe this is an unintentional oversight caused by the mistaken belief that UIOs are considered Tribal Organizations, which they are not. UIOs are non-profit, IHS contracted agencies-a key component in the I/T/U system and exist as an extension of treaty rights to provide direct health services to citizens of federally recognized Tribes."

In addition to Reps. Randall and Ruiz, the letter was signed by Reps. Ansari (D, AZ-03), Timothy M. Kennedy (D, NY-26), Soto (D, FL-09), Stanton (D, AZ-04), Grijalva (D, AZ-07), Stansbury (D, NM-01), Jayapal (D, WA-07), Case (D, HI-01), Salinas (D, OR-06), Watson Coleman (D, NJ-12), Brownley (D, CA-26), Lofgren (D, CA-18), Stevens (D, MI-11), Huffman (D, CA-02), Robin Kelly (D, IL-02), Hoyle (D, OR-04), Dexter (D, OR-03), Leger Fernandez (D, NM-03).

Full letter text HERE.