Navajo Nation Votes Against Taking Control of Health Services

The Navajo Nation has voted not to assume control of health services currently overseen by the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, the Arizona Republic reports. In a special election on June 19, Navajo tribe members voted 16,255 to 3,710 against the resolution (Reid, Arizona Republic, 6/20). The Navajo Area Indian Health Service is a branch of the national Indian Health Service, which is a division of HHS. The Indian Health Service was once the primary care provider for many of the country's 558 federally recognized Native American tribes, but about 60% of those tribes have taken over management of their own health care facilities or are "considering" doing so. Those supporting Navajo control of the facilities -- which included seven health centers, six hospitals and 15 health stations -- said that the resolution would have reduced patients' waiting and travel time. Opponents, however, said that the shift might have made the tribe "vulnerable" to losing federal funding (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/19). The Navajo health service currently operates on a $443 million budget and employs 3,800 people throughout Navajo land in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico to provide services to the Nation's 227,000 members. To take control of the agency's services, the Navajo Nation would have employed the Indian Self-Determination Act, which allows the tribe to "contract" services that are overseen by the federal government (Arizona Republic, 6/20).