House Republicans Propose Increase for the Indian Health Service in FY24 and Advance Appropriations for FY25

On July 12, 2023, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies released the FY24 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

• IHS Funding: The bill would authorize $7.078 billion for the Indian Health Service (IHS) for FY24, an increase of $149.4 million of the FY23 enacted level, $2.2 billion below the President’s Budget Request, and $43.3 billion below the Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup request of $51.42 billion.
• Advance Appropriations: The bill also provides $5.878 billion in advance appropriations for FY 2025.
• Urban Indian Health: The Subcommittee has not released the bill report, which would include the proposed funding for urban Indian health.
• CSC and Tribal Leases: The Subcommittee rejected the administration’s proposal and Tribal requests to make contract support costs and Tribal leases mandatory spending.
• The Subcommittee will be holding the markup on the bill on July 13, 2023, at 5 PM EST. The hearing will be livestreamed here.

NCUIH Advocacy for Key Priorities: Full Funding, Advance Appropriations

• On March 24, 2023, the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) a letter to Chairman Kay Granger (R-TX-12) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) of the House Interior Appropriations Committee requesting full funding for IHS and urban Indian health, advance appropriations for IHS, and resources for Native behavioral health in FY 2024.
• On March 9, 2023, NCUIH CEO Francys Crevier (Algonquin), testified before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee as part of American Indian and Alaska Native Public Witness Days advocating for full funding for IHS and to maintain advance appropriations for IHS until mandatory funding is enacted.

Next Steps

The Subcommittee will conduct a markup on the bill on July 13, 2023. Following the Subcommittee markup, the bill will move to full Committee consideration. NCUIH will continue to monitor for the report release and provide additional analysis. The hearing will be livestreamed here.

Key Documents

• House Interior Appropriations Bill
• Bill Summary
• NCUIH’s Analysis of the President’s FY24 Budget