As a result of the national agreement, the Veterans Affairs (VA) is now able to reimburse the Indian Health Service (IHS) for direct care services provided to eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. While the national agreement applies only to VA and IHS, it will inform agreements negotiated between the VA and tribal health programs. VA copayments do not apply to direct care services provided by IHS to eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans under this agreement.
The VA/IHS agreement will stregethen VA, IHS, and Tribal health programs by increasing access to high-quality care for Native Veterans, particularly those in highly rural areas, as well as improve improve health care services for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans and further the IHS mission and federal responsibility of raising the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The agreement between the two agencies marks an important partnering achievement for VA and the IHS and is consistent with the Administration’s goal to increase access to care for Veterans.
To view the national agreement, please visit: www.va.gov. To find out additional information about American Indian and Alaska Native Veteran programs, please visit: www.va.gov/tribalgovernment and http://www.ihs.gov/.