12/10/20

Medicare for all is an insult to Indian Country

Hey Democrats. Most Native Americans don’t want Medicare for All; they want a fully funded Indian Health Service and military personnel want better TRICARE coverage. 
The U.S. Indian Health Service under the direction of Michael Weahkee entered into a Public Law (P.L.) 93-638 contract for the management of the Sioux San IHS facility in Rapid City, South Dakota, with a non-profit corporation. The Sioux San serves 28,000 patients from 305 tribes. All of these patients live in Rapid City or the nearby area. The contract was and is a clear violation of P.L. 93-638, a federal law, as a federal agency can only enter into such a contract with a Tribe or a Tribal Organization. The non-profit corporation on the contract is NOT a Tribe or a Tribal Organization and is under the jurisdiction of the state of South Dakota which is known for its anti-American Indian stance. Little wonder as all of western South Dakota is STILL Indian land under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Health care is also a right under that Treaty. [Charmaine White Face: Health care remains our treaty right]
Only 30% of Native Americans know the Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds for some procedures at Indian Health Service clinics so I like the idea of rolling the funding for TRICARE, Medicare, the IHS and the VA together then offering Medicaid for all by increasing the estate tax, raising taxes on tobacco and adopting a carbon tax. Reproductive freedoms should be included with conditions just like the military does under TRICARE. 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the most visible federal expert on the coronavirus, will speak to leaders from the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe on December 14. The meeting takes place virtually via Zoom, said Kevin Killer, the recently inaugurated Oglala Sioux president. [Tribes host Dr. Fauci as COVID-19 crisis continues in Indian Country]
Make no mistake: Donald Trump and Republicans like Kristi Noem are targeting Indian Country for annihilation. His Tulsa trip and the Sturgis Rally in occupied South Dakota are spreading the virus all over Native America. It’s called ethnic cleansing even genocide elsewhere but in Trump’s America it’s called MAGA.
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