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NPAIHB Legislative and Policy Update

Thursday, December 10, 2021

Important Dates

Dec. 13, 2021 (9:00 AM Pacific)

NPAIHB Tribal Caucus re Veterans Affairs Listening Sessions on IHS/THP Reimbursement Agreement Program & Purchased Referred Care

Zoom Link


Dec. 13, 2021 (11:00 AM Pacific)

IHS DBH Behavioral Health Integration Initiative (BH2I) Grant Pre-Application Webinar

Registration Link


Dec. 13, 2021 (3:00 PM Pacific)

NPAIHB Tribal Caucus re IHS Tribal Consultation on Additional Funding

Zoom Link


Dec. 14, 2021 (9:00 AM Pacific)

NIHB Health IT Summit

Registration Link


Dec. 14, 2021 (10:00 AM Pacific)

IHS Tribal Consultation on Additional Funding –ARPA, BBA, and Infrastructure

Zoom Link


Dec. 14, 2021 (10:00 AM Pacific)

DOI & NCAI Town Hall and Q&A Session: Tribal Policy Implementation and Looking Forward to 2022

Registration Link

 

Dec. 14, 2021 (12:00 PM Pacific)

White House Tribal Briefing – Updates from Biden Administration

Registration Link


Dec. 15, 2021 (10:00 AM Pacific)

IHS DBH Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment & Aftercare (SAPTA) Pre-Application Grant Webinar

Registration Link

 

Dec. 16, 2021 (12:00 PM Pacific)

VA Listening Session on PRC

Adobe Link


Dec. 16, 2021 (12:00 PM Pacific)

DSTAC Monthly Meeting


Dec. 16. 2021 (3:00 PM Pacific)

HHS Region 10 Tribal Quarterly Call

Zoom Link


Dec. 17, 2021 (11:00 AM Pacific)

ISAC Monthly Meeting


Visit our FHACT Tracker

Federal Health Agency and Congress Tracker (FHACT) An ongoing list of Dear Tribal Leader Letters, Federal agency actions, and legislation introduced in the 117th Congress related to health.

COVID-19 Funding Tracker

An ongoing tracker of COVID-19 direct and set-aside funding for Tribes. Updated as of Aug. 2, 2021.

Legislation Updates

H.R. 6119—Further Extending Government Funding Act. Last week, President Biden signed into law H.R. 6119 to continue to fund the government through February 18, 2022. The continuing resolution maintains funding at Fiscal Year 2021 levels, but includes an additional $44.8 million to the Indian Health Services account for staffing and operations of facilities that were opened, renovated, or expanded in FY 2021 and FY 2022, and an additional $4.6 million for the Indian Health Facilities account for the same purpose.

Tribal Consultation Updates

IHS Tribal Consultation on Additional Funding. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 10 AM Pacific, IHS will be hosting tribal consultation on the allocation of an additional $210 million to the IHS from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for public health workforce activities, $3.5 billion for sanitation facilities under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the $2.35 billion under consideration by the Build Back Better Act. 


NPAIHB will be hosting a Tribal Caucus on Dec. 13, 2021 at 3 PM Pacific to prepare for this consultation

 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)/Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Tribal Listening Sessions. The VA will host two listening sessions regarding their collaborative efforts to administer VA’s Indian Health Service/Tribal Health Program (IHS/THP) Reimbursement Agreement Program (RAP) and implement Public Law 116-311, Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act. Inclusion of PRC into the program will require adopting a new agreement template. NPAIHB will be hosting a Tribal Caucus on Dec. 13, 2021 at 9 AM Pacific to prepare for these listening sessions; Zoom Link for Tribal Caucus

 

Interior Consultation on Boarding Schools Initiative. The U.S. Department of the Interior held 3 consultation sessions in November to seek input on the implementation of the Indian Boarding School Initiative announced this past June. 

 

Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Tribal Consultation(s) on Tribal Consultation Policy and Office of Head Start (OHS). ACF held their annual tribal consultation and Office of Head Start consultation last month.               

Administrative and Regulatory Updates

2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit. As a follow up to the Summit, the Domestic Policy Council created and released the Tribal Nations Summit Progress Report. See report, here.


CMS COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.  Last month, CMS issued a new emergency rule imposing COVID-19 vaccination requirements on certain 21 participating Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers. CMS has released a memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors announcing suspension of survey and enforcement of this vaccine requirement while there’s a court-ordered injunction in effect. 

 

CMS Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Supplemental Toolkit. CMS has released an updated Medicaid and CHIP telehealth toolkit that includes a supplement to the toolkit that provides states additional guidance on extending telehealth services beyond the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19.  


IHS announced $46.4 million to fund behavioral health programs that serve American Indians and Alaska Natives. The funding opportunities will support addressing suicide, domestic violence, and substance abuse, and supporting an integrative approach to the delivery of behavioral health services. Major funding highlights include:

  • Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Aftercare ($14 million)
  • Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention ($14 million)
  • Domestic Violence Prevention ($7.9 million)
  • Behavioral Health Integration Initiative ($6 million)
  • Forensic Healthcare ($2.5 million)
  • Zero Suicide Initiative ($2 million)
  • Applications are due by Feb. 2, 2022.

 

IHS announced $9.34 million in funding opportunities to support tribal self-governance and urban Indian health. The announcement covered the availability of the Fiscal Year 2022 Tribal Self-Governance Planning and Negotiation Cooperative Agreement funding opportunities for $840,000, which are administered by the IHS Office of Tribal Self-Governance. These annual awards support tribes and tribal organizations with the planning and preparation necessary to assume responsibility for providing health care to their tribal members through the Tribal Self-Governance Program. The application deadline for the cooperative agreement funding opportunities is Feb. 10, 2022.

 

Head Start Programs COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate and Universal Masking. This week the Head Start programs universal masking requirement on all individuals 2 years of age or older and COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all staff went into effect. Staff and contractors must receive their second dose in a two-dose series or first in a single-dose by Jan. 31, 2022. Certain exemptions apply to the universal masking and vaccine mandate requirements. 

 

Office of Minority Health Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE). Through legislation enacted in 2020, OMH was directed to develop the CIIHE to focus on health research, policy, and innovation to address health disparities among American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. OMH is seeking nominations for a delegate and an alternate from each IHS area to serve on the CIIHE Tribal Advisory Committee. Nominations are due Jan 7, 2022.

 

U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Town Hall on ‘Tribal Policy Implementation and Looking Forward to 2022’. DOI and NCAI will host a Town Hall discussion and Q&A session on recent tribal policy developments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the announcements made during the White House Tribal Summit. The town hall will feature Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Bryan Newland and DOI staff, who will be answering questions from tribal leaders and delegates on various policy issues and implementation processes.

  • Town Hall is Dec. 14, 2021 at 10:00 AM Pacific; Registration Link. Tribal Leaders or delegates interested in asking a question during the webinar should contact CC Wright at cwright@ncai.org.

 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Announces additional $52 Million in Indian Community Block Grant-American Rescue Plan (ICDBG-ARP) grants. The announcement follows HUD’s awarding $72 Million of round 1 priority awards in November. The HUD resources have been awarded to Tribes in each of the 3 NW states; HUD will announce additional ICDBG-ARP awards on a rolling basis.

 

Office of Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announces intent to establish a Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (TIAC). This notice announces HUD's intention to form the Department's first standing Tribal advisory committee and provides a pathway for American Indian and Alaska Native housing priorities to be established alongside peer learning and capacity building among Tribes and non-Tribal entities and federal agencies.

  • Comments on the proposed structure of the TIAC are due on or before: Jan 14, 2022 via electronic submission through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov; refer to agency/docket number: FR-6289-N-01.

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) - Veterans Health Administration (VHA) announced invitation to Tribal leaders for two listening sessions. The listening sessions will cover the VA’s Indian Health Service/Tribal Health Program (IHS/THP) Reimbursement Agreement Program (RAP) and implementation of Public Law 116-311, Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act.

 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service (IHS) signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), announced on October 21, 2021. The MOU aims to improve the health status of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Veterans through coordination and partnership between the VHA and IHS to leverage and share resources and investments in support of each organization’s mutual goals.

For more information Laura Platero, Executive Director

Lisa L. Griggs, Executive and Program Ops Assistant | Candice Jimenez, Health Policy Specialist | Liz Coronado, Health Policy Specialist

Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board npaihb.org