25 USC 1680c – Health services for ineligible persons
(a) Children
Any individual who—
(1) has not attained 19 years of age;
(2) is the natural or adopted child, stepchild, foster child, legal ward, or orphan of an eligible Indian; and
(3) is not otherwise eligible for health services provided by the Service,
shall be eligible for all health services provided by the Service on the same basis and subject to the same rules that apply to eligible Indians until such individual attains 19 years of age. The existing and potential health needs of all such individuals shall be taken into consideration by the Service in determining the need for, or the allocation of, the health resources of the Service. If such an individual has been determined to be legally incompetent prior to attaining 19 years of age, such individual shall remain eligible for such services until 1 year after the date of a determination of competency.
(b) Spouses
Terms Used In 25 USC 1680c
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
- Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
- State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
Any spouse of an eligible Indian who is not an Indian, or who is of Indian descent but is not otherwise eligible for the health services provided by the Service, shall be eligible for such health services if all such spouses or spouses who are married to members of each Indian tribe being served are made eligible, as a class, by an appropriate resolution of the governing body of the Indian tribe or tribal organization providing such services. The health needs of persons made eligible under this paragraph shall not be taken into consideration by the Service in determining the need for, or allocation of, its health resources.
(c) Health facilities providing health services
(1) In general
The Secretary is authorized to provide health services under this subsection through health facilities operated directly by the Service to individuals who reside within the Service unit and who are not otherwise eligible for such health services if—
(A) the Indian tribes served by such Service unit requests such provision of health services to such individuals, and
(B) the Secretary and the served Indian tribes have jointly determined that the provision of such health services will not result in a denial or diminution of health services to eligible Indians.
(2) ISDEAA programs
In the case of health facilities operated under a contract or compact entered into under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.),1 the governing body of the Indian tribe or tribal organization providing health services under such contract or compact is authorized to determine whether health services should be provided under such contract or compact to individuals who are not eligible for such health services under any other subsection of this section or under any other provision of law. In making such determinations, the governing body of the Indian tribe or tribal organization shall take into account the consideration described in paragraph (1)(B). Any services provided by the Indian tribe or tribal organization pursuant to a determination made under this subparagraph shall be deemed to be provided under the agreement entered into by the Indian tribe or tribal organization under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. The provisions of section 314 of Public Law 101-512 (104 Stat. 1959), as amended by section 308 of Public Law 103-138 (107 Stat. 1416), shall apply to any services provided by the Indian tribe or tribal organization pursuant to a determination made under this subparagraph.
(3) Payment for services
(A) In general
Persons receiving health services provided by the Service under this subsection shall be liable for payment of such health services under a schedule of charges prescribed by the Secretary which, in the judgment of the Secretary, results in reimbursement in an amount not less than the actual cost of providing the health services. Notwithstanding section 1621f of this title or any other provision of law, amounts collected under this subsection, including Medicare, Medicaid, or children’s health insurance program reimbursements under titles XVIII, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq., 1396 et seq., 1397aa et seq.], shall be credited to the account of the program providing the service and shall be used for the purposes listed in section 1641(d)(2) of this title and amounts collected under this subsection shall be available for expenditure within such program.
(B) Indigent people
Health services may be provided by the Secretary through the Service under this subsection to an indigent individual who would not be otherwise eligible for such health services but for the provisions of paragraph (1) only if an agreement has been entered into with a State or local government under which the State or local government agrees to reimburse the Service for the expenses incurred by the Service in providing such health services to such indigent individual.
(4) Revocation of consent for services
(A) Single tribe service area
In the case of a Service Area which serves only 1 Indian tribe, the authority of the Secretary to provide health services under paragraph (1) shall terminate at the end of the fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year in which the governing body of the Indian tribe revokes its concurrence to the provision of such health services.
(B) Multitribal service area
In the case of a multitribal Service Area, the authority of the Secretary to provide health services under paragraph (1) shall terminate at the end of the fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year in which at least 51 percent of the number of Indian tribes in the Service Area revoke their concurrence to the provisions of such health services.
(d) Other services
The Service may provide health services under this subsection to individuals who are not eligible for health services provided by the Service under any other provision of law in order to—
(1) achieve stability in a medical emergency;
(2) prevent the spread of a communicable disease or otherwise deal with a public health hazard;
(3) provide care to non-Indian women pregnant with an eligible Indian’s child for the duration of the pregnancy through postpartum; or
(4) provide care to immediate family members of an eligible individual if such care is directly related to the treatment of the eligible individual.
(e) Hospital privileges for practitioners
(1) In general
Hospital privileges in health facilities operated and maintained by the Service or operated under a contract or compact pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) 1 may be extended to non-Service health care practitioners who provide services to individuals described in subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d). Such non-Service health care practitioners may, as part of the privileging process, be designated as employees of the Federal Government for purposes of section 1346(b) and chapter 171 of title 28 (relating to Federal tort claims) only with respect to acts or omissions which occur in the course of providing services to eligible individuals as a part of the conditions under which such hospital privileges are extended.
(2) Definition
For purposes of this subsection, the term “non-Service health care practitioner” means a practitioner who is not—
(A) an employee of the Service; or
(B) an employee of an Indian tribe or tribal organization operating a contract or compact under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) 1 or an individual who provides health care services pursuant to a personal services contract with such Indian tribe or tribal organization.
(f) Eligible Indian
For purposes of this section, the term “eligible Indian” means any Indian who is eligible for health services provided by the Service without regard to the provisions of this section.