by Jes Abeita
Daily Lobo
Greg Ortiz, former governor of Acoma Pueblo, said he is not happy with the American-Indian health care system in Albuquerque.
"My family's been here (in Albuquerque) for decades, and they have to drive to Acoma sick," he said.
Ortiz spoke Monday at a meeting of the Native Health Council of New Mexico that addressed the Albuquerque Indian Health Services' Contract Health Services Program.
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Some audience members said they were frustrated with the system.
Vietnam veteran Albert Cata was one of them.
"It's a crazy game we've got to play," he said.
The meeting was the second in a series of gatherings put together by the council.
The council was formed to address the health care needs of Albuquerque's American-Indian population, which is estimated at more than 45,000, said Roxane Spruce Bly, who helped organize the event.
American Indians living in the city must navigate the contract health process in order to access many needed medical services, she said.
Contract health is the process that is used when a tribal member cannot get into a direct care facility, said Maria Rickert, acting CEO of the Albuquerque branch of the program. It is one of the most confusing programs at IHS, she said.
Medical services include anything IHS does not provide, such as specialized X-rays, Rickert said.
Eligibility criteria, the approval process and how to file an appeal were all covered in the meeting.
IHS is the governmental organization set up to deliver health services to members of federally recognized tribes.
She said the funding system doesn't address the more than 50 percent of American Indians who now live in cities. American Indians in large cities are more likely to make use of contract health, she said.
Dr. Ron Lujan said that many times tribal members who have moved to cities face resentment when they come back to their home reservations. That can make going home for medical treatment daunting, he said.
Many people in the audience said it was time to rewrite the residency rules that cause such inconveniences. Rickert said such a change would be up to individual tribes. If the rules were changed, some people who have coverage could lose it, she said,
Although the meeting clarified the system, it did not make it less frustrating, Cata said.
That frustration is compounded by the fact that the program consistently loses funding from Congress, Rickert said.
She said the chronic underfunding of the program by Congress only makes matters worse. Sometimes a patient that applied one year would get paid from funds for the next year, she said.
Spruce Bly said the Native Health Council planned to meet again in October. The topic and time will be announced at a later date.
