Here's why the Native American and Alaskan Native population have a shorter life expectancy than every other group in America:

Money.

The U.S. has fallen short of their trust and treaty obligations to tribal communities and underfunded the Indian Health Service (IHS) for decades, leaving millions of rural indigenous residents without comprehensive medical care.

What little funding that does exist is distributed unequally across states, so where you live can have a drastic impact on the quality of care you receive.

The disparate funding is about more than just a fight about who gets what. In areas where the IHS can't provide healthcare services, they're supposed to pay for private sector care. But when funding is insufficient, IHS may not provide any funding at all. And in states that have refused to expand Medicaid, this often leaves tribal communities with no option but to pay out of pocket — a daunting prospect for pretty much anyone.

Every year, politicians promise to increase access to health care resources, but little progress has been made and tribal communities are suffering real-world consequences because of their inaction: higher rates of disease and shorter life expectancy.

In South Dakota, the median age of death in recent years is 58 years old – 22 years younger than white South Dakotans. That's not even old enough to collect Social Security.

So far, we've not seen much more than half measures taken to fix this problem. We need our leaders in charge to take responsibility, fully fund the IHS, and ensure our tribal communities have the resources they need to thrive.

Heidi

Heidi Heitkamp, Former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Founder, One Country Project