This is a result of VA’s new 2023 policy that eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans are no longer required to make copayments for VA health care, urgent care, or prescriptions. Under this policy, VA also reimburses for copayments paid on or after Jan. 5, 2022. 

“To live their best lives, Veterans need access to affordable health care,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “This copayment exemption honors our treaties with sovereign nations and the distinguished service of American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans.”

Eligible Veterans include any American Indian and Alaska Native Veteran who meets the definitions of “Indian” or “urban Indian” under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.

VA is continuing to receive, review, and process documentation for the copayment exemption. To apply for the copayment exemption, Veterans should mail 1) a completed VA Tribal Documentation Form (VA Form 10-334), and 2) a copy of official tribal documentation to VHA Tribal Documentation at P.O. Box 5100, Janesville, WI 53547.

Find more information on the copayment exemption for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. 

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An opening reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 1, including a tour with the artist at 6 p.m.

The exhibit is in the MSJC art gallery, which is in Building 1400 on the San Jacinto Campus, 1499 N. State St.

The MSJC gallery is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information, please visit msjc.edu/artgallery or contact Art Professor John Knuth at Jknuth@msjc.edu.

Escovedo is the Professor of American Indian Studies at Fresno City College. He holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Fresno State College of Art and Humanities. In fact, he became the first student to earn his bachelor’s in American Indian studies with a special major combining Ethnic Studies and Art.

Escovedo was born and raised in Fresno, California (Yokuts & Mono Traditional Land). His path to academic achievement was a meandering one. At the age of 30, he decided to give college another try and learn more about his ethnic background and enrolled in his first American Indian studies course. With that course, the pieces of his life, family history, profession and education came together to present a new focus within his educational goals.

Through this one American Indian studies course, Escovedo found purpose on campus and became inspired to join the college’s Native American Inter-Tribal Student Association (NAISA). Escovedo soon became vice president of NAISA and helped with planning and hosting student-led educational events and activists’ demonstrations.

Escovedo decided to pursue a double major, combining American Indian studies with art. Continuing this exploration, Escovedo found he could use his education to better his community, both inside and outside educational institutions.

An example of this community activism came to fruition with a commission from the ethnic studies department to design the Yokuts Plaza monument. Escovedo reached out to local traditional Native basket weavers to help design the image that would eventually sit on top of a large piece of granite sourced from the mountains of the Central Valley.

Escovedo helped plan and host several Native American events that tackled subjects like settler-colonialism, intergenerational trauma, cultural competency, neurodecolonization, indigenizing spaces, and intersectionality.

An opening reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 1, including a tour with the artist at 6 p.m.

The exhibit is in the art gallery, which is in Building 1400 on the San Jacinto Campus, 1499 N. State St.

The gallery is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information, please visit msjc.edu/artgallery or contact Art Professor John Knuth at Jknuth@msjc.edu.

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Mt. San Jacinto College serves nearly 24,000 students annually in a district covering 1,700 square miles from the San Gorgonio Pass to Temecula, with campuses in San Jacinto, Menifee, Banning and Temecula.

MSJC awarded 3,157 degrees and certificates to a record-breaking 2,185 graduates in May 2022.

Have a wonderful day and please follow MSJC on social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The post MSJC Art Gallery Presents ‘Decolonizing Place and Time’ appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.