SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 1

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first special session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

John Pinto

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REMINDING THE LEGISLATURE OF THE IMPORTANCE TO TRIBAL PEOPLE OF THE STATE'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIVE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE AND URGING LEGISLATORS TO HOLD NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, NATIONS AND PUEBLOS HARMLESS FROM ANY CUTS TO MEDICAID FUNDING OR PROGRAMS.

     WHEREAS, on September 24, 2009, the medical assistance division of the human services department announced a series of cuts expected in medicaid budgets for tribes in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed cuts were not discussed in a formal way with the tribes; and

     WHEREAS, Governor Bill Richardson's Executive Order 2005-04 promised that tribal consultation would be held in such cases; and

     WHEREAS, the human services department is bound by the state-tribal consultation policy announced by the governor and is required by the federal stimulus act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to consult with federally recognized tribes on any medicaid plan amendments, waiver requests and proposals that are likely to have a direct impact on Indian health programs and Native American medicaid beneficiaries; and

     WHEREAS, the health care that most tribal people in New Mexico rely upon is severely underfunded, and the federal Indian health system is experiencing a shortage of professional health care providers, including nurses, dentists and pharmacists; and

     WHEREAS, in the year 2000, the per capita income on the Navajo Nation was one-third of the per capita income of the rest of the United States at seven thousand two hundred sixty-nine dollars ($7,269) per year; and

     WHEREAS, the unemployment rate on the Navajo Nation has doubled from twenty-five and six-tenths percent in 2000 to fifty and one-half percent in 2007; and

     WHEREAS, it is well documented that American Indians and Alaska natives suffer the most egregious health disparities compared with the rest of the population of this country; and

     WHEREAS, the federal government's spending for health care in tribal areas is less than one-half that spent for prisoners; and

     WHEREAS, federal funds for tribal health services require no state matching funds; and

     WHEREAS, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley has written a formal request to the medical assistance division requesting consideration of the Navajo Nation's opposition to tribal health cuts; and

     WHEREAS, any cut whatsoever to medicaid expenditures for the chapters of the Navajo Nation; the pueblos; the Jicarilla Apache Nation; and the Mescalero Apache Tribe will have a significant and disparate impact on a very vulnerable system of health care delivery;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that any cuts made to medicaid funds or programs in New Mexico in the first special session of the forty-ninth legislature exempt tribal medicaid funds or programs; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, rather than making cuts to Indian health service and tribal facilities, the state should consider a Native American carve-out program similar to the carve-out or opt-out program used for the state coverage insurance opt-out; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no major changes be made to tribal health services delivery or funding absent a formal tribal consultation with New Mexico's twenty-two tribes, nations and pueblos, as mandated by the governor's Executive Order 2005-04 and the provisions of the federal stimulus bill; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of human services, the medical assistance division of the human services department, the heads of all Indian tribes, nations and pueblos and the Indian affairs department.

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