Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Following Investigation Into IHS Doctor, Lawmaker Calls For Broad Assessment Of The Indian Health Service
The Wall Street Journal: South Dakota Senator Moves For Evaluation Of Indian Health Service
Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, introduced legislation Thursday calling for a broad assessment of the U.S. Indian Health Service, following an investigation of the agency by The Wall Street Journal and the PBS series Frontline. The bill calls for a sweeping evaluation of the agency’s performance, including its long-term vacancies, how it allocates money to its more than two dozen hospitals and the competency of the agency’s leadership. The Journal/Frontline investigation revealed the Indian Health Service mishandled allegations of sexual assault by a pediatrician it employed for decades and routinely hired physicians with troubled backgrounds to fill slots at its remote hospitals on Native American reservations. (Weaver and Frosch, 2/15)
In other news from Capitol Hill —
The Hill: Congress Allows Violence Against Women Act To Lapse
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides funding and grants for a variety of programs that tackle domestic abuse, lapsed at the end of Friday after Congress failed to pass an extension before leaving for its one-week recess. Lawmakers squabbled over whether a clean extension of the landmark legislation, which was first signed into law in 1994, should be wrapped into a massive must-pass government funding deal that was signed by President Trump on Friday. (Brufke, 2/16)
