A group of bipartisan senators sending a letter To the Secretary of Health and Humanitarian Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warns him that the agency cut can greatly affect Indian health services (IHS).
The letter was thinking on Tuesday from Sens. Jeff Merkley (D -ore.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)-expressed concern over the ability of IHS to take care of more than 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska.
In April, HHS began to dismiss around 10,000 workers and consolidate 28 institutions and centers to 15 new divisions. Including around 10,000 people who have gone over the past few months through early retirement or suspended resignation programs, all staff at HHS are estimated to fall from 82,000 to around 62,000 – or about a quarter of their workforce.
The JCI has been released from the reduction of the staff of the experimental employee, but the senators note that cutting to other institutions in HHS that serves the original community has an impact on the JCI.
They added that the recruitment freezing worst the problems of existing critical staff, including the need for laboratory technicians and administrative personnel.
A small child walked to the front door of the Indian Hospital in Public Health Services at the Standing Rock Reservation in Fort Yates, ND, October 14, 2008.
Will Kincaid/AP
“We urge you to take immediate action to ensure that the IHS program that serves the original community has the resources and staffing needed to fulfill their mission and stop further action that affects the provision of ethnic health care without first being involved in meaningful ethnic consultations,” read the letter.
Merkley, Schatz and Murkowski also described in the letter of how Indian Americans and Alaska natives were very vulnerable populations “lagging in almost every health metric.”
In the National Health Interview Survey 2023 – carried out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) – 21.8% of those who identified only as American Indians or Alaska natives reported in fair or bad healthwhich is the highest level seen among any racial or ethnic groups.
NCHS data shows American Indians and Alaska natives disproportionate By diabetes, angina – which is chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart – and disability.
In addition, American Indians and Alaska indigenous people have the lowest life expectancy of each race or ethnic group in the US with an average hope of 67.9 years in 2022, according to him CDC.
“The original community deserves reliable access to quality health care, and we urge you to re -evaluate all actions that endanger the delivery of health care services for American Indians and Alaska indigenous people,” the senators wrote.
HHS did not immediately reply to ABC News comments requests
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.