Redeeming hollow promises: The case for mandatory spending on health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives

T.M. Westmoreland and K.R. Watson

American Journal of Public Health, 2006, vol. 96, issue 4, 600-605

Abstract: The reliance on discretionary spending for American Indian/ Alaska Native health care has produced a system that is insufficient and unreliable and is associated with ongoing health disparities. Moreover, the gap between mandatory spending on a Medicare beneficiary and discretionary spending on an American Indian/Alaska Native beneficiary has grown dramatically, thus compounding the problem. The budget classification for American Indian/Alaska Native health services should be changed, and health care delivery to this population should be designated as mandatory spending. If a correct structure is in place, mandatory spending is more likely to provide adequate funding that keeps pace with changes in costs and need.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2004.053793_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.053793

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