Native American Health Care

Improved Essays
The United States government 's current involvement in minority health is incredibly insufficient and the health issues minorities face today would decrease if there were more participation from the U.S government. The lack of government involvement is harshly affecting minority health, especially Native Americans. History illustrates the carelessness the government has shown with Native American health care since the beginning. It is up to the U.S government to step up and sufficiently supply Native American’s with adequate health care. The Native American population has never been hostile towards the modernization of medicine, despite many believing in other types of healing. Native American health care is insufficient and failing due to …show more content…
In 1921, the Snyder Act took place, which required scheduled health care to Native American people by the federal government. However, the efforts of this act helped minimally due to the inability to recognize specific Native American health needs. Despite attempts made by the federal government, Native American health care remained insufficient. This lead to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) decision of closing down Native American health facilities and transferring that health care to state hospitals. This decision was supported by the idea that it would be less expensive and allow the Native American population to remain closer to their homes. However to many this decision seemed to be in favor of eradicating Indian reservations. The sparse government involvement seemed to wreak havoc on Native American population by terminating the advancement of health care. In 1988, the Indian Health Service (IHS) was elevated to agency status, acquiring main responsibility for Native American health care (Native American Health Care). In 2003, the the government gave $2.5 billion to IHS, however this was still $1.8 billion dollars short of what was needed to help Native American health …show more content…
Traditionally, Native Americans believe that health “is a balance of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional concepts”, a balance that is not recognized in modern medicine (Health Disparities Between Indians and Non-Indians). This leaves people to speculate that Native Americans reject the idea and will not use modernized medicine, also meaning they don’t need as much funding as other health services need. The failure of health care facilities that are overseen by the IHS allows speculation of the Native American population rejecting modernized health care. The stereotype that Native American’s reject to modern ways of life is reflected in the government’s involvement for health care. It is not the Native American population rejecting modernized medicine but them being forced to look elsewhere for health care because of an overall inadequate health care

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