On March 31, President Biden announced the first part of his $3 trillion infrastructure package, the American Jobs Plan. The plan provides a broad overview of the infrastructure priorities of the President, which include transportation, clean drinking water, broadband, housing, and jobs. The plan is the first of a two-part proposal to help the nation’s economy and infrastructure needs. The plan does not go into specifics, but it does note a Tribal set aside for broadband infrastructure. As this is only the first part of the overall proposal, further Tribal health infrastructure may be included in the future.

Starting March 29, Congress is in recess until April 12. As a result, no official business will occur in the House of Representatives or Senate until April 12.

On March 26, the Indian Health Service (IHS) released a Dear Tribal Leader and Urban Indian Organization Leader on the allocation of $95 million for telehealth services. This funding comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). This announcement updates the allocation of this funding based on the April 1, 2021 Tribal consultation that was held in response to the addition of funds from the CARES Act. Specifically, IHS intends to allocate $67 million to the IHS and Tribal Health Programs (THPs) for program increases for hospitals and health clinics, alcohol, substance abuse, and mental health funding. This will be distributed using existing distribution formulas mentioned in the April 1 consultation. $4 million will be allocated to Urban Indian Organizations and will be distributed through existing Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) contracts. The remaining $24 million will be used in a variety of ways such as nationwide outreach, education, training, technical assistance, contract management, and policy development activities. These allocations are intended to help Indian country through Tribal hospitals and clinics in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by improving telehealth services that have been seen to significantly increase health care effectiveness in Indian country. In a recent letter written by the Tribal Technical Advisory Group (TTAG) to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) supported the view that telehealth has become a best practice in health care for Tribal communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 23, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Public Health Service (PHS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Administration for Children and Families released a final rule with a delay in its effective date. The final rule, commonly known as the SUNSET rule, was originally published on January 19, 2021. Under this rule, it is required for the Federal departments mentioned above to regulate their final rules by denoting expiration dates for said rules as well as, review periods. The effective date is now delayed until March 22, 2022 due to several health care organizations seeking a judicial review to overturn the SUNSET final rule. This affects Tribal communities as several Tribes must comply with regulations from these agencies. The burden and hurt that may be caused by the regulation of these expirations and reviews may be harmful to the effectiveness and productivity of Tribal communities. This final rule also determines corrections made to typographical errors. Along with the Tribal Technical Advisory Group (TTAG), the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has recently written comments on this rule in opposition to its implementation in December of 2020.

On March 25, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $450 million in Indian Housing Block Grants for Tribal communities across the country. These funds are intended to be used to respond to COVID-19 and the hardships it has caused Tribal communities. This funding is from the American Rescue Plan and is intended to help Tribes to carry out affordable housing activities to protect the safety and health of their members. The grant amounts for each Tribe have been calculated by a formula that includes the local needs and housing units managed for each Tribal community. Some approved usages for this funding also include housing management services, crime prevention, activities that provide creative approaches to solving their affordable housing problems, and modernization of existing housing. For a full list of grant allotments and Tribes click here.

On March 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an announcement of an updated data snapshot on COVID-19 data related to Medicare beneficiaries specifically in underserved populations. This data includes racial and ethnic minorities, adults 85 years and older as well as people with pre-existing conditions. This snapshot includes data from services provided from January 1, 2020 till December 26, 2020. New additions to this data include data for COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates classified by race and ethnicity. This data may be important for healthcare providers in Tribal communities and Federal agencies when determining new practices and procedures for the response of COVID-19 in Indian Country. For more information on the work the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has done on this please click here to see the Medicare 2010 to 2018, by Indian Health Service (IHS) Access, with 2018 IHS Administrative Data. 

From April 5 through April 15, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting Outreach and Education Virtual Events. These virtual trainings will be held in collaboration with the Portland and Billings Area Indian Health Service. The target audience will be hospital and business staff, benefit coordinators, patient registration staff, health information staff, and purchased referred care staff. Topics discussed at this event will include updates from CMS Division of Tribal Affairs, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and the Health Insurance Marketplace, state-administered programs, clinical documentation improvement, and much more.

Through this event, individuals will also be eligible to receive 1 Continuing Education Credit from the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) for each training attended within the series. The National Indian Health Board is a proud partner in the delivery of these CMS I/T/U trainings. Please see the future events occurring across Indian Country, mark your calendars, and share with your networks!

Click here to see the CMS ITU training schedule for 2020-2021. To register for these events go to https://regionalcmsitutrainings.com/. Registration through this link will be available for other areas as additional sessions are scheduled. The CMS Indian Health Service Tribal Facility and Urban facility training schedule for 2020 through 2021 can be found here.

For more information, please contact Kristen Bitsuie at KBitsuie@nihb.org.

On Thursday, April 8^th from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be providing a webinar on recent Marketplace policy changes, updates on the Special Enrollment Period (SEP), and the benefits the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 has brought to the Marketplace. Tribal community Navigators, Tribal advisors, and certified application counselors throughout Indian country should attend the webinar to learn more about the potential policy changes in the Marketplace that may impact American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Please click here to register. 

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is excited to bring its annual National Tribal Public Health Summit to a virtual audience this year! The Summit's theme "Indigenous Resilience in Tribal Public Health Practice" is a tribute to the leadership and innovation from Indian Country during the coronavirus pandemic. NIHB is now accepting abstracts for workshop sessions until April 2, 2021. Workshops are excellent opportunities to share best or promising practices, recent research or program outcomes, provide an in-depth exploration of new or arising issues or policies, or explore public health strategies and practices. NIHB has roughly 30 workshop spots available for this year's Virtual Summit. Submit a workshop abstract for a 75-minute presentation on a topic relevant to one or more of the following conference tracks. 

Register for the National Tribal Public Health Summit here.

On March 19, the Office of Management and Budget released a Dear Tribal Leader letter announcing a tribal consultation in accordance with President Biden’s Memorandum on government-to-government consultation. Due to a limited number of available conference lines, the Office of Management and Budget requests that no more than two Tribal leaders from each Tribal government register to attend each session The consultations will take place on two separate days: 

Register here for day 1 

Register here for day 2 

Written comments will be accepted until Friday, April 9, and can be submitted to tribalconsultation@omb.eop.gov.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) headquarters is hiring summer interns through the Pathways Program, which is designed to attract students enrolled in a wide variety of educational institutions (high school, home-school, vocational and technical programs, undergraduate, and graduate programs) with paid opportunities to work in agencies and explore Federal careers while in school. The Pathways Program exposes students to jobs in the Federal Civil Service by providing meaningful developmental work at the beginning of their career before career paths are fully established. Students should be based near the Washington DC metropolitan area. The application closes April 9, 2021.

On March 22, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released a Dear Tribal Leader letter announcing a tribal consultation in accordance with President Biden’s Memorandum on government-to-government consultation. The event will be held:

For more information, visit the Office of Personnel Management website here.

On March 23, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an extension for the HealthCare.gov Special Enrolment Period. Originally through May 15, the extended enrollment period goes through August 15, 2021. The reason for the extension is to allow families to obtain Marketplace health care coverage during the ongoing public health emergency.

For more information on the special enrollment period, visit the CMS website here.

The National Indian Health Board is pleased to announce it is accepting applications for three funding opportunities related to dental therapy in Indian Country as part of NIHB's Tribal Oral Health Initiative. Completed applications should be submitted to Brett Weber at bweber@nihb.org and should reference the grant code in the subject line. Applications are due on Friday, April 30, 2021, by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Applicants will be notified of their award status by May 31, 2021.

For more information on the three funding opportunities click here.