Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s op-ed, Making America Sick Again: What a Repeal of the Affordable Care Act Could Mean, is misguided and flat out wrong. Rep. Grijalva claims Republicans in Congress want to repeal the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA). This is false. No one is proposing to repeal the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
Republicans are dedicated to solving the serious flaws within our healthcare system, many of which were exacerbated by Obamacare. During the last Congress, the House passed a bill to repeal various provisions in Obamacare, but the Indian Health Care Improvement Act was not one of them. Rep. Grijalva knows this, but chose to build a straw man instead to scare tribes for political reasons.
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is a result of years of bipartisan work, though there remains much to be done to improve health care outcomes in Indian country. The work ahead to ensure greater access to the high quality and affordable services that Native Americans deserve will require more than misleading rhetoric and fear-stoking.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) is the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
© 2017 Indian Country Today Media Network, all rights reserved. https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com