Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate passed the Indian Health Services (IHS) Workforce Parity Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to make it easier for IHS to recruit and retain medical workers. Specifically, this bipartisan bill improves health care in Tribal communities by allowing providers working part-time to access IHS scholarship and loan repayment programs.
Historically, IHS has a 25% vacancy rate for health care providers, and the IHS Workforce Parity Act would help attract new doctors and nurses to both the agency and Tribal health facilities that serve over 2.5 million American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribal members. The senators’ bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.
“All Nevadans deserve access to health care, regardless of their background or where they live,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “By passing my bipartisan legislation, the Senate has taken the important step toward addressing the devastating shortage of doctors in Indian Country. I will never stop fighting for Tribal communities in Nevada and across the country.”
“I am confident this legislation will address the current difficulty IHS is facing in recruiting and retaining health care professionals,” said Senator Mullin. “Rural health care providers like IHS have unique staffing needs, and the flexible, cost-effective solutions included in the IHS Workforce Parity Act will ensure IHS maintains a competitive edge when considering new recruits. In strengthening the workforce, IHS can ensure a proper quality of care to their patients and improve patient outcomes. I commend the Senate for passing these bipartisan reforms.”
Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts to provide Native American communities across Nevada with access to quality health care. She helped secure over $1 billion in coronavirus relief funding for the Indian Health Service to combat the pandemic and $125 million in additional funding for Tribes and urban Indian health organizations within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to address the mental health needs of Native communities. She has also cosponsored legislation to help address health disparities for Native Americans in urban areas and expand access to physician training to address the state-wide doctor shortage. The Senator has continuously highlighted the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW), and she was instrumental in passing Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act into law.
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