Working together: U.S. and tribal governments collaborate to implement new laws

Sep 20, 2011

Implementation of New Public Laws for Indian Country

Two very important new laws benefiting Indian and Alaska Native people and communities were enacted during the 111th Congress: the Tribal Law and Order Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (which included the permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act). Since enactment, federal agencies have been working hard to begin to implement the new laws, including consulting with tribal governments on a government-to-government basis about how those statutes should be implemented in Indian and Native communities. Among the federal agencies which play roles in implementing these laws are the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and its Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO).

Here are some of the recent activities related to implementation.

Tribal Law and Order Act Implementation:

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has scheduled an oversight hearing on implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act on September 22. The hearing is entitled, “Tribal Law and Order Act One Year Later: Have We Improved Public Safety and Justice throughout Indian Country?”

In August, the Departments of Justice and the Interior released the Long Term Plan to Build and Enhance Tribal Justice Systems, which Congress mandated in the Tribal Law and Order Act to address incarceration and alternatives to incarceration in Indian Country.

DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance has a website devoted to the act's implementation.

On September, the Indian Law and Order Commission, which was established under the Tribal Law and Order Act, held its first field hearing on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington. The commission invited tribal leaders and people with expertise in the areas of tribal law enforcement and juvenile justice to present testimony at that hearing.

Affordable Care Act Implementation:

The Department of Health and Human Services has been holding a series of tribal consultation meetings on the Affordable Care Act to give information to and get input from tribal governments about implementation of the act. These tribal consultations have focused on three primary topic areas: expanded eligibility for Medicaid, standards and the process for enrolling in qualified health plans through the affordable insurance exchanges, and the Internal Revenue Service’s proposed rule on the health insurance premium tax credit.

The Insurance Exchange-related provisions of the Affordable Care Act, for example, exempt Indians from the act’s requirement that all individuals purchase health insurance. However, since the act was signed in to law, there has been some uncertainty about how to implement these and other provisions because the act contains three different definitions of “Indian” for purposes of who would be eligible for various provisions, programs and services. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Indian Health Service are recommending that the Affordable Care Act be amended to address this discrepancy. Given the importance of this issue to tribal citizens, several Indian organizations have asked that Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius consult personally with tribes on this matter. Read the letter sent to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.