The California Valley Miwok Tribe was recently contacted by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), for the purpose of distributing educational information about the “Affordable Care Act” to CVMT’s network of contacts.

It’s important for all American Indians and Alaska Natives to understand the benefits and choices available to them when the Affordable Care Act goes into effect. In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act. The law included a permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The government’s historical and unique legal relationship with Indian tribes is based on treaties, laws, and Supreme Court decisions. Indian Health Service offers health care to American Indians / Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) on or near Indian reservations and in some Urban Indian communities.

The law increases your access to affordable care. Insurance companies must now pay the cost of many preventive services such as cancer screening, mammograms and colonoscopies, vaccinations such as flu, mumps and measles; blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, tobacco cessation counseling and interventions, birth control, depression screening and more.

visit http://www.healthcare.gov/prevention for a full list.

In 2014, families and small business owners who buy their own coverage can shop for private health insurance in a new, competitive marketplace in their state – called Affordable Insurance Exchange – where private insurers will compete for your business. Members of Congress will buy insurance there, too. Another improvement will be that discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition will be illegal; insurance companies won’t be able to charge women more than men, and tax credits will make buying insurance more affordable.

To learn more about HealthCare.gov, visit http://www.healthcare.gov/ – To find more information regarding American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN), visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service – Indian Health Service (IHS) website at http://www.ihs.gov.

The California Valley Miwok Tribe would like to thank Tina Swannack, Communications Associate at Kauffman and Associates, Inc., and the Center for Medicare and Medical Services (CMS).