Native American Healthcare: No Patient Liability, Easier Reimbursements
This new act aims to simplify healthcare access for Native Americans by eliminating their liability for medical services authorized by the Indian Health Service. It also introduces procedures for reimbursing out-of-pocket payments, directly improving patients' financial situations.
Key points
Patients will no longer be liable for costs of medical services authorized by the Indian Health Service, even if they previously signed financial responsibility documents.
The Indian Health Service will notify patients and providers that the patient is not responsible for payments.
Reimbursement procedures are established for patients who paid out-of-pocket for authorized services, with refunds issued within 30 days of documentation submission.
The act standardizes terminology, changing "contract health service" to "purchased/referred care" across all relevant documents.
Introduced
Citizen Poll