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Who was the best president in regards to Native American relations?Alysa Landry, of Indian Country Today Media Network, did a series of 44 articles on every US President’s actions and attitudes towards Native people in the US up to 2017. There is not one “best” president. Most did very little good and many did a lot terrible. Here are the top “best for Native people” Presidents and what they did:Nixon—called for a new policy of “self-determination without termination,” instigating lasting changes in federal-Indian relationships. Outlined nine specific changes in federal policy, including restoration of some Native lands, funding for reservation-based health care programs, expansion of programs for urban Indians and creation of a cabinet-level position for an assistant secretary of Indian Affairs. Signed a bill returning the sacred Blue Lake in New Mexico to the Taos Pueblo. Signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which transferred 44 million acres of land to Alaska Natives. The act also called for $962.5 million in compensation and led to the incorporation of more than 200 indigenous villages. Signing 52 legislative measures to support sovereignty. Signed the Menominee Restoration Act, ending the tribe’s termination status and restoring its right to self-determination. Increased the BIA budget by more than 200 percent, doubled funds for Indian health care and created the Office of Indian Water Rights. Created The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act which Ford signed after Nixon resigned. Richard M. Nixon: ‘Self-Determination Without Termination’ - Indian Country Media NetworkObama — Obama hosted first White House Tribal Nations Conference, which he recognized as “the largest and most widely attended gathering of tribal leaders” in historysign a presidential memorandum directing every cabinet agency to provide a plan within 90 days—and on an annual basis thereafter—detailing its consultations with tribes, plans to implement change in Indian country and regular progress reports. As a result, federal agencies rallied unprecedented devotion to Indian Affairs and accomplished more for Indians than any other administration in history. “Virtually every agency improved somehow in what it did for Indian country,” Washburn said. “By the second or third Tribal Nations Conference, secretaries knew they had to deliver. That made them keenly aware of Indians. The conference drove policy like nothing has before.” Signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, expanding punitive authority of tribal courts and working to reduce violent crime, especially against women.Signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Signed a bill settling for $3.4 billion a lawsuit filed by Elouise Cobell on behalf of 300,000 Indians who alleged the federal government mismanaged trust accounts. The $680 million Keepseagle settlement in 2010, and by 2012. The Justice and Interior departments had reached settlements totaling more than $1 billion with 41 tribes for claims of mismanagement. Signed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, extending to tribes unprecedented authority to prosecute non-Natives who commit crimes on Indian land. Officially restore the Native name of Alaska’s highest mountain peak back to Denali. Established Generation Indigenous, a network tasked with cultivating the next generation of Native leaders and removing “the barriers that stand between young people and opportunity.” Barack Obama: ‘Emotionally and Intellectually Committed to Indian Country’ - Indian Country Media NetworkFDR—the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, proposed comprehensive restructuring of Indian policies while addressing poverty and substandard education on Indian reservations. Also known as the Indian New Deal, participating tribes could organize their own governments. The act abolished the Dawes Act of 1887—which had contributed to the loss of two-thirds of all Indian land—and promised better Indian education. But part of this led to the Navajo Livestock reduction that impoverished people. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A New Deal for Indians - Indian Country Media NetworkClinton— Signed Public Law 103-413 made policies of tribal self-governance permanent. Public Law 103-412 allowed tribes to manage their own accounts. Signed two memorandums upholding the religious rights of Native Americans—including expedited access to eagle feathers. Signed Public Law 103-263, which prohibited the federal government from distinguishing between “historic” Indian tribes and “created” tribes—roughly 20 tribes that failed to sufficiently document their history. The law extended to all tribes equal autonomy, including the rights to levy taxes and handle law enforcement on Indian lands. Became the first sitting president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to visit an Indian reservation. Appointed Ada Deer as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. Deer, Menominee, was the first Native woman to hold the office. Signed Public Law 103-150, an apology to Native Hawaiians for the United States’ overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Signed the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, which recognized the federal government’s responsibility to provide housing to tribes and help improve infrastructure.the Indian Tribal Economic Development and Contract Encouragement Act Bill Clinton: Invites Tribal Leaders to White House, Increases Tribal Independence - Indian Country Media NetworkGHW Bush—signed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act into law in 1990. Designated the first national Native American heritage month, and proclaimed 1992 the “Year of the American Indian.” Relegated “to the history books” the concepts of forced Indian termination and excessive dependency on the federal government. Signed the Native American Languages Act of 1990, which sought to reverse the effects of previous policies calling for suppression or extermination of Native languages and cultures. Declared it federal policy to “preserve, protect and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice and develop Native American languages.” Signed the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a truth-in-advertising law that prohibits the misrepresentation of products as Indian-made. George H.W. Bush: Establishing NMAI, NAGPRA; Corruption in BIA - Indian Country Media NetworkCarter—signed into law three bills that benefited Indians: the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act. And the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act in October 1980Jimmy Carter: Signed ICWA into Law - Indian Country Media NetworkLBJ —Signed the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act, which granted individual Indians “equal protection of the law” by extending to them the provisions laid out in the Bill of Rights. First president to deliver a special message to Congress on the problems of Native Americans, titled “The Forgotten American.” He proposed “a new goal that ends the old debate about ‘termination’ of Indian programs and stresses self-determination; a goal that erases old attitudes of paternalism and promotes partnership.” Appointed Robert Bennett as commissioner of Indian Affairs. Bennett, an Oneida Indian, was only the second Native to hold that office. Proposed an Indian policy of “maximum choice” for Indians, “expressed in programs of self-help, self-development, self-determination.” He also issued an executive order establishing the National Council on Indian Opportunity. Lyndon B. Johnson: Indians are ‘Forgotten Americans’ - Indian Country Media Network Self-Determination, LBJ and UNDRIP - Indian Country Media NetworkGerald Ford - Signed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which officially reversed Indian termination, authorized government agencies to work directly with tribes and gave tribes authority to decide how to use funds for children in public schools.. Signed the Indian Claims Commission Appropriations Legislation. He called it an opportunity “to take clear and decisive action” to make things right. “Although we cannot undo the injustices from our history, we can insure that the actions we take today are just and fair and designed to heal such wounds from the past,” Signed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, elevating the health status of Indians to the highest possible level and encouraging tribes to enter into self-determined contracts with the Indian Health Service. Designated the second week of October 1976 as Native American Awareness Week.Gerald R. Ford: Hoping to Heal Wounds - Indian Country Media NetworkCalvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924, granting all Indians the privileges of U.S. citizenship, including the right to vote. The act also guaranteed to Indians other civil rights already enjoyed by other minorities, including the right to vote as spelled out in the 15th amendment, which declares that the vote shall not be denied “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.” Commissioned the The Meriam Report which was highly critical of Native policy and led to the Reorganization Act in the 30s and the end to Allotments. Calvin Coolidge: First Sitting Prez Adopted by Tribe Starts Desecration of Mount Rushmore - Indian Country Media NetworHerbert Hoover. The only president to have lived on Native lands. He went to school with Osage kids for eight months when living on the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. He lived with an uncle who was an Indian agent.His Vice President Curtis was the only native person to be a Vice President. Curtis was Kaw, Osage, Potawatomi and French.Herbert Hoover: Only US President to Have Lived on Indian Reservation - Indian Country Media NetworkHere is a list of Presidents who visited a Indian Reservation:Chester Arthur to Wind River in 1883.Warren Harding to Metlakatla in 1923,Coolidge to Pine Ridge South Dakota.FDR to Quinault, Blackfeet, and Chereokee in NCTruman to Fort Peck,Clinton to Pine Ridge and Navajo,Obama -the Crow Indian Reservation as candidate, and Standing Rock,Hoover went to school with Osage kids.And Obama Makes Eight: Presidents Who Visited Indian Country - Indian Country Media NetworkIndians Are Invisible: What I Learned Researching US Presidents - Indian Country Media NetworkBarack Obama and Richard Nixon Among Best Presidents for Indian Country - Indian Country Media NetworkHere is the series of articles on all 44 Presidents and their attitudes and actions towards Native people. Most are appalling. Search Results - Indian Country Media Network

Let's define Health to begin with -Health should be viewed as not merely the absence of disease but as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. The determinants of good health are: access to various types of health services and an individual’s lifestyle choices, personal, family and social relationships.I will try to cover as many issues and suggestion regarding India's Health sector as I can.Availability of Medical Services and Urban-Rural DivideCurrent ScenarioAt present, India’s health care system consists of a mix of public and private sector providers of health services. Networks of health care facilities at the primary, secondary and tertiary level, run mainly by State Governments, provide free or very low cost medical services. There is also an extensive private health care sector, covering the entire spectrum from individual doctors and their clinics, to general hospitals and super specialty hospitals.IssueAvailability of health care services from the public and private sectors taken together is quantitatively inadequate. This is starkly evident from thedata on doctors or nurses per lakh of the population. At the start of the Eleventh Plan, the number of doctors per lakh of population was only45, whereas, the desirable number is 85 per lakh population. Similarly, the number of Nurses and Auxiliary Nurse and Midwifes (ANMs) available was only 75 per lakh population whereas the desirable number is 225. The overall shortage is exacerbated by a wide geographical variation in availability across the country. Rural areas are especially poorly served.SuggestionsASHA (Accredited social health activists) are doing a commendable job in spreading awareness , especially in rural areas. Augment their task force , give incentives to youth for becoming ASHA as a part of Skill India campaign.Encourage students of government medical colleges to complete a term of several years in a rural area as a part of their internship during bachelor's course.Make it mandatory for a RMP Registered Medical Practitioner to have served in a rural region for at least 5 years before allowing him to open a private clinic.Making nutrition available for pregnant and lactating mothers in form of vitamins and daily food programs in line with Mid-day meal schemes.Establishing PHCs and infrastructure in villages alongwith spreading awareness will take care of high IMR and MMR.Infrastructure : From Water to Waste disposalIndia lacks far behind in terms of its budgetary allocations to Health sector in terms of its GDP. Indian villages and many urban clusters lack proper sanitation and drinking water facilities.Hospitals and PHCs or clinics are as good as luxuries in these hamlets.SuggestionsBuild toilets and community toilets in clusters. Educate rural population about the importance of proper sanitation methods and waste disposal techniques.Provide clean drinking water. This should be a priority for government.Encourage PPP model of investment for capacity building in these villages.Funds should be diverted to make medical services easily available at all time.Quality of health personnel and government contracts should be constantly monitored by state authority to avoid accidents like Bilaspur accident. - Sterilisation deaths in Bilaspur expose India's struggle with faulty drugsLack of effective Payment MechanismMost Indian patients pay for their hospital visits and doctors’ appointments with straight up cash after care with no payment arrangements.According to the World Bank and National Commission’s report on Macroeconomics, only 5% of Indians are covered by health insurance policies .Such a low figure has resulted in a nascent health insurance market which is only available for the urban, middle and high income populations.There is very low penetration of Insurance sector in Indian market.SuggestionIncentivize FDI in insurance sector and encourage better penetration of health schemes . (Under process).Managers and health personnel in public sector facilities couldbe paid bonus for achieving higher coverage of services as measured by reduction in the use of private sector services in the coverage area.They can be paid further incentives for delivering preventive care services effectively and achieving measurable health outcomes in their respective area.UHC pilots to be rolled out by States could experiment with differentmethods of organisation and delivery of services, and payment systems so that resources allocated are able to generate better health outcomes.Drug Regulation and Pharmaceutics & Medical devices.Irrational Fixed Drug combination FDCs and other hazardous drugs should be weeded out.Food regulation should be made stricter and adulterers and black-marketeers should be severely punished. FSSAI should be made more competent and effective.Competition should be introduced in pharma sector so that all the essential drugs reach every nook and corner of the country and are available n every civil hospital.India has shown notable growth in pharmaceutics but its health devices sector is highly underdeveloped. Regulatory measures should be relaxed and this sector should promoted under Make in India campaign.Information Technology in Health Sector.Information Technology can be used in at least four different ways to improve health care and systems:1. Support public health decision making for better management of health programmes and health systems at all levels2. Support to service providers for better quality of care and follow up3. Provision of quality services in remote locations through Tele-medicine4. Supporting education, and continued learning in medicine and healthA composite HIS, when fully operational, would incorporate the following:1. Universal registration of births, deaths and cause of death. Maternal and infant death reviews.2. Nutritional surveillance, particularly among women in the reproductive age group and children under six years of age.3. Disease surveillance based on reporting by service providers and clinical laboratories (public and private) to detect and act on disease outbreaks and epidemics.4. Out-patient and in-patient information through Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to reduce response time in emergencies and improve general hospital administration.5. Data on Human Resource within the public and private health system6. Financial management in the public health system to streamline resource allocation and transfers, and accounting and payments to facilities,providers and beneficiaries. Ultimately, it would enable timely compilation of the National Health Accounts on an annual basis.7. A national repository of teaching modules, case records for different medical conditions in textual and audio-visual formats for use byteaching faculty, students and practitioners for Continuing Medical Education.8. Tele-medicine and consultation support to doctors at primary and secondary facilities from specialists at tertiary centres.9. Nation-wide registries of clinical establishments, manufacturing units, drug-testing laboratories, licensed drugs and approved clinical trials tosupport regulatory functions of Government.10. Access of public to their own health information and medical records, while preserving confidentiality of data.11. Programme Monitoring support for National Health Programmes to help identify programme gaps.Remaining IssuesChild and maternal health care.Family welfare.Sexual health of Indian youth.Mental Health coverage.Teaching institutes in the field of Health care.Indian system of medicines (AYUSH)How to defeat the curse Communicable diseases.Thanks for A2A , Ankit Galgat and Rahul Bansal. Suggest more ways and we can keep making this answer more comprehensive.Refer 12th Five Year Plan for more information.

Native Americans are citizens and all have been so since the Indian Citizenship Act of November 2nd, 1924. As such, they are all eligible for the same services that all citizens have under the Affordable Care Act. For poor Native Americans who reside in states where the Governor did not fight the expansion of Medicaid, and who are eligible because of poverty, there is expanded Medicaid.Are you referring to Indian Health Service (IHS)?It is not a health insurance program, but a system of health care facilities for enrolled tribal members. It is part of the promised treaty obligations in exchange for giving up huge amounts of land and resources. Most provisions of these treaties have never been even slightly honored. Most of the capital in the country has at it’s original base wealth gained from use of that land and the resources on that land.If IHS was fully funded, and more employees were hired, and more facilities built so that it was available in every area where Native Americans live, then it would be like the British National Heath Service (NHS). It would be provided as a treaty obligation to the enrolled members of Federally recognized tribes who have government to government treaty relationships with the US federal government. As it is, many people can’t use it.It has always been under funded and too small. It has, at times, been cut in arbitrary ways, most recently under the near criminal Sequestration cuts to IHS. I say criminal, because IHS is a treaty obligation not a optional government poverty program. Over there years, one can hear many complaints from tribal members about IHS. Some are from the past. Some have been improved. Some are cultural miscommunications. Some have not been fixed. At one time some people avoiding the draft joined IHS instead. But is most cases IHS provides quality health care in remote areas where there would be no other services. In modern times, every single person I have known in IHS was a dedicated and skillful person. Most doctors who I have known chose to work for it after residency and were board certified. They took substantial pay cuts to move to rural areas far away from family and friends and usually far away from the urban life they are accustomed to having. They did this out of dedication to providing healthcare to those in need.The trust relationship between the tribes and the US government establishes a responsibility for a variety of services and benefits to Indian people based on their status as Indians, including health care. This relationship has been defined in case law and statute as a political relationship that further distinguishes Indians from racial classification for purposes of affirmative action laws and in other federal statutes that establish federally funded programs for the general public.Treaties between the United States Government and Indian Tribes frequently call for the provision of medical services, the services of physicians, or the provision of hospitals for the care of Indian people. Even before these treaties, the United States Constitution specifically addressed the federal government's primacy role in dealing with Indians in the commerce and treaty clauses.The IHS provides medical and public health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives at 33 hospitals, 59 health centers, 50 health stations, and 34 urban Indian health projects. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS-run hospitals and clinics serve any registered Indian/Alaska Native, regardless of tribe or income. Tribal-contract health care facilities serve only their tribal members, with other qualified Indians/Alaska Natives being offered care on a space-available basis. This policy makes it difficult for an Indian who leaves their tribal home for education or employment to receive health care services to which they are legally entitled. An IHS fact sheet clarifies that Indians are also eligible to apply for low-income health care coverage provided by state and local governments, such as Medicaid.There are 1.9 to 2.4 million enrolled tribal members in 567 federally recognized tribes (over 229 in Alaska) in 35 states who can use the facilities. People who are native or part native but not enrolled members can not use them. Also, most Native people now live in urban and suburban areas not on reservations. Only about 30% live on reservations today.Typically, IHS facilities provide ambulatory primary care, inpatient hospital care, specialties, dental, vision, mental and behavioral health and sometimes traditional healing. There are about 2,700 nurses, 900 physicians, 400 engineers, 500 pharmacists, and 300 dentists, as well as other health professionals for a total of more than 15,000. It has a budget of about $4 billion. The average cost to provide health care for Native Americans in the system is $1,600per person , which is far less than the average cost of health care for other United States citizens.Fact Sheets | Newsroom .There are also Tribal contract health care facilities run by some tribes (CHS). There are more than 500 of these. It is important to understand that the CHS program does not function as an insurance program with a guaranteed benefit package. When CHS funding is depleted, CHS payments are not authorized. The CHS program only covers those services provided to patients who meet CHS eligibility and regulatory requirements, and only when funds are available. Many facilities only have CHS funds available for more urgent and high priority cases and utilize a strict priority system to fund the most urgent cases first.In general, to be eligible for CHS, an individual must be of Indian descent from a federally recognized Tribe and belong to the Indian community served by a Contract Health Services Delivery Area (CHSDA). If the person moves away from their CHSDA, usually to a county contiguous to their home reservation, they are eligible for all direct care services available but are generally not eligible for CHS.As well as IHS and CHS there is in some cases what is called Purchased/Referred Care (PRC) Purchased/Referred Care (PRC). In some cases people can apply to this to pay for health care.The general purpose of PRC is for IHS and tribal facilities to purchase services from private health care providers in situations where: 1) no IHS or tribal direct care facility exists; 2) the existing direct care element is incapable of providing required emergency and/or specialty care; 3) utilization in the direct care element exceeds existing staffing; and 4) supplementation of alternate resources (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance) is required to provide comprehensive health care to eligible AI/AN.The Affordable Care Act (ACA - Obamacare) expanded how Native Americans can receive healthcare. It included a re-authorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA). Depending on a persons eligibility and the coverage available in your state, a enrolled tribal member can:Continue to use IHS, tribal, and/or urban Indian health programs,Enroll in a qualified health plan (QHP) through the Marketplace, and/orAccess coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.If one chooses to enroll in a QHP through the Health Insurance Marketplace plan, they may qualify for special benefits and protections offered to American Indians and Alaska Natives.As you can see, the situation is complex and different from one area to another. But, to answer your question simply: there is no Native American special health insurance. There are a bunch of programs that sometimes provide care for some people in some places, and sometimes depending on income, tribe and other factors.I’m not sure why I see so many questions seeking information to confirm their belief that Native Americans get some sort of undeserved special deal. Although there are individuals and some tribes that are doing well, statistically many Native Americans are in a difficult place. Almost all the great wealth in the US is related to the resources and land the was taken by force. Native people have been subject to official and individual abuse for centuries. There are many vibrant and avtive Native cultures in the US. But not one of them gets a incredible special deal from the US government.