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Indian Clinic Funding Gets Support
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Journal Staff Report
    Money for urban Indian health clinics left out of the president's proposed budget was restored Monday by members of a House appropriations subcommittee.
    The Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Interior and Environment added $33.4 million to fund 34 private nonprofit health clinics across the country that serve mostly urban native American patients.
    Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., had lobbied for restoration of the funding and last month toured First Nations Community Healthsource in Albuquerque to call attention to the importance of private urban clinics.
    President Bush, she said, had cut the funding because urban health care for Indians is provided by the Indian Health Service. But those services have been reduced, she said, leaving tribal members scrambling for services if they are unable or unwilling to drive to clinics on reservations.
    Current funding for the urban clinics is $33 million.
    Wilson spokesman Enrique Carlos Knell said Monday the full House Appropriations Committee is expected to approve the restored funding later this week.