Sarah Elfreth

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Mr. Speaker, the Indian Health Service, or IHS, is the primary agency responsible for providing healthcare to American Indians and Alaska Natives. However, the agency is chronically underfunded and understaffed, resulting in limited care at IHS and Tribal facilities. When these facilities cannot offer care, Tribal patients may receive services from outside providers under the Purchased and Referred Care, or PRC, program. As the chairman pointed out, in an emergency, most Tribal patients only have 3 days, or 72 hours, to notify the agency that they received care under the PRC program. This is, as the chairman said, completely unrealistic for too many Americans. It places an unfair burden on patients and their families to navigate paperwork and deadlines during medical emergencies, when they should be focused on receiving care. H.R. 8658 would extend the notification period from 3 days to 15 days. This simple extension would gave patients and their families the time to complete the necessary requirements and allow them to focus on their recovery in the event of an emergency. This small change is a meaningful step in supporting healthcare for Indian country because Tribal patients should not have to worry about balancing paperwork and going into medical debt while recovering and receiving the care they are entitled to. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.