Even with the agreement to end the federal government shutdown for the next three weeks, the disruption is still complicating matters for organizations funded by Indian Health Services.
IHS is chronically underfunded, and when the flow of that meager pot of money is stopped programs can get cut or curtailed.
The Seattle Indian Health Board needed to cut down the number of beds it provides for in-patient drug treatment at its clinic. Leaders also were assessing other offerings because of a lack of funding.
Historically, the federal government has considered IHS money to be "discretionary" rather than "mandatory." Aren Sparck, government affairs officer for the Seattle Indian Health Board, says that means the money is even more vulnerable to any disruption.
"But if we move to mandatory spending, we're not going to have to worry about, really, the nonsense that comes along with the shutdown happening," Sparck said. "And then the government can keep on fulfilling the federal-trust responsiblity when these types of conflicts arise."
And Sparck says even though the government is back up and running, he still expects a lag time for reimbursements to the clinic.
"Because you do have to submit claims to get your dollars, and they don't always come in right when you do that. So there is a lag effect," he said. "So, they're going to have to get their dollars and then prioritize what is the most effective and impactful way to release funds as soon as they get that. And there's no guarantee that the Urban Indian Health programs are a part of that."
Sparck says now is not the time to lower the number of available beds because of the ongoing opioid crisis. He also points out the shutdown added pressure to an already consistently underfunded clinic.
