Indian Health Service.
HEALTH and ILLNESS in the American Indian and Alaska Native Population ■ 231
The budget for FY 2011 was estimated to be $829 million (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service Fact Sheets).
The IHS headquarters is located in Rockville, Maryland. Some headquarters’ functions are conducted in IHS offices in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. IHS regional administrative units, called area offices, are located in the following cities (as shown on the map— Figure 9–5). The map is “live” on the Internet and each area, when tapped, presents pertinent information about the communities it serves. The web page is http://www.ihs.gov/PublicAffairs/IHSBrochure/map.asp.
Aberdeen, South Dakota 605-226-7582 Anchorage, Alaska 907-729-3689 Albuquerque, New Mexico 505-248-4500 Bemidji, Minnesota 218-444-0452 Billings, Montana 406-247-7248 Nashville, Tennessee 615-467-1500 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 405-951-3820 Phoenix, Arizona 602-364-5039 Portland, Oregon 503-414-5555 Sacramento, California 916-930-3927 Tucson, Arizona 520-295-2405 Window Rock, Arizona 928-871-5811
The ineligibility of American Indians living on the East Coast to secure such services has caused numerous difficulties for needy American Indians. Health care providers generally seem to think that American Indians should receive health services from the IHS and try to send them there. Unfortunately, there simply is no IHS on the East Coast, so American Indians tend to be shifted around among the regional health care resources that are available.
Many providers of health care and social services are not aware that many of the American Indians on the East Coast have dual citizenship as a result of the Jay Treaty of 1794, which allows for international citizenship between the United States and Canada, a fact that raises questions about whether American Indians can freely cross the border between the United States and Canada and whether those who live in the United States are eli- gible for welfare or Medicaid.