Under this new policy, VA will reimburse copayments paid on or after Jan. 5, 2022 and waive future copayments for eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. 

Beginning Tuesday, April 4, Veterans can submit documentation to qualify for the copayment exemption. Eligible Veterans include any Veteran who meets the definitions of “Indian” or “urban Indian” under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act – including Veterans who are members of an American Indian Tribe, certain Veterans who are descendants of Tribe members, Alaska Native Veterans, and more.

“American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans deserve access to world-class health care for their courageous service to our nation,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “By eliminating copays, we are making VA health care more affordable and accessible — which will lead to better health outcomes for these heroes.”

To receive this financial relief, eligible Veterans should mail 1) a completed VA Tribal Documentation Form (VA Form 10-334), and 2) a copy of official tribal documentation demonstrating that they meet the definitions of “Indian” or “urban Indian” to PO Box 5100, Janesville, WI 53547. For more information on copayment waivers for Native American and Alaska Native Veterans, visit here. 

VA posted a final rule for public inspection in the Federal Register today establishing the waiver and process for Veterans to submit documentation to have their VA copays waived. This rule implements Section 3002 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 Public Law 116-315, signed into law Jan. 5, 2021.

Learn more about copayment exemptions for Native American and Alaska Native Veterans and VA benefits and programs for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday ordered several Cabinet departments to work together to combat human trafficking and crime on Native lands, where violent crime rates are more than double the national average.

Speaking at a White House summit on tribal nations, Biden signed an executive order tasking the Justice, Homeland Security and Interior departments with pursuing strategies to reduce crime. Biden also asked the departments to work to strengthen participation in Amber Alert programs and national training programs for federal agents, and appoint a liaison who can speak with family members and to advocates.

The administration also announced plans to pursue a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling in Chaco Canyon, an ancient Native American heritage site in northwestern New Mexico.

“We have to continue to stand up for the dignity and sovereignty of tribal nations,” Biden said at the first tribal nations summit since 2016. The two-day summit was being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected Indigenous peoples at disproportionate rates.

American Indians and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely to be victims of a violent crime and Native American women are at least two times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted compared to other races, according to the Association on American Indian Affairs.

The administration also announced a long-sought action to protect Chaco Canyon, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the Bureau of Land Management will study the possible withdrawal for a period of 20 years from federal lands within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Such a move would bar new federal oil and gas leasing and development on those lands. Those lands will not be eligible for leasing while the study is underway, though past administrations had already opted to impose the buffer administratively.

Environmentalists and some tribes have complained that such a move is temporary and that permanent protections are needed. But it isn’t so simple; while some tribes have fought for protections, the Navajo Nation, which has more to lose by curbing oil and gas, has asked for a smaller radius around the site, an ancient center of Pueblo culture.

“Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked, and thrived in that high desert community,” said Haaland, the first Native American to lead the Interior Department, the powerful federal agency that has wielded influence over U.S. tribes for generations. Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo.

“Now is the time to consider more enduring protections for the living landscape that is Chaco, so that we can pass on this rich cultural legacy to future generations,” she said. The secretary represented New Mexico, where Chaco Canyon is located, in the U.S. House of Representatives before she was narrowly confirmed by the Senate to take over at Interior.

First lady Jill Biden, an English teacher, addressed the summit on the importance of preserving Native languages. Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak Tuesday, the final day.

The tribal nations summit coincides with National Native American Heritage Month and is being hosted by the White House for the first time, with leaders from more than 570 tribes in the United States expected to participate. The summit was not held during the Trump administration; past conferences took place at the Interior Department.

Since taking office in January, Biden has taken several steps that the White House says demonstrate his commitment to tribal nations.

Among them are naming Haaland to lead the Interior Department. His coronavirus relief plan included $31 billion for tribal communities, and the administration has worked closely with tribal leaders to help make COVID-19 vaccination rates among Native Americans among the highest in the country, the White House said.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said she hoped the summit would help eliminate red tape when building critical infrastructure on tribal lands.

Biden also spoke about infrastructure, specifically to note that the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill he was signing into law Monday afternoon would direct $13 billion toward Native American communities to help provide such things as high-speed internet and clean drinking water.

Biden recently became the first president to issue a proclamation designating Oct. 11 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, giving a boost to longstanding efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Native peoples.

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Last year, following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the city of Minneapolis was thrust into the national spotlight and became the epicenter of a broader conversation around racism, policing, and the injustices of the criminal justice system. 

But an ongoing story in the same community that didn’t make the headlines was allegations of discrimination against Native American girls in Hennepin County, which encompasses Minneapolis. From the school disciplinary system to the foster care system to the juvenile justice system, advocates allege widespread inequities, which have serious consequences for the Native American girls who find themselves navigating these three interconnected systems.  

“When you’re defending even just an individual youth, you’re pushing against these really intensive pressures and really problematic frameworks that criminalize Native American kids,” said Sarah Davis, executive director of the Legal Rights Center, a legal services nonprofit based in Minneapolis. “And I’ve seen it play out really significantly with Native American girls in particular.” 

Although county and gender-specific data are hard to come by, the data on out-of-home placement rates paint a picture of what Native girls in the county are experiencing once they’ve entered the juvenile detention system. Native American youth in Hennepin County are significantly less likely than white youth to be released home after spending time in a juvenile detention center, according to Hennepin County’s 2018 Admissions to Juvenile Detention report. And statewide, Native American youth in Minnesota experience the “highest out-of-home placement rates in the entire nation,” according to the 2019 Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee’s annual report. 

The disparities in the treatment of Native American youth and girls don’t just begin once they’ve entered the juvenile detention system. Statewide, Native girls are also more likely to be sent to the office than any other racial group and 13 times more likely than white girls to receive out-of-school suspension, according to a 2020 Status of Women and Girls in Minnesota report. 

Many of these trends continue into adulthood. Even though less than 2% of Minnesotan women identify as Native American, Native women account for roughly 6% of all police stops, according to the same 2020 report. And nearly 15% of Native women in Minnesota have been sentenced to prison, higher than any other racial group.

These inequities also extend into the foster care system. Only 1.1% of people living in Hennepin County identify as Native American, according to the 2019 U.S. Census. However, roughly 17% of children in foster care in Hennepin County identify as American Indian or Native American, according to Hennepin County Foster Care and Adoption.

The disparities facing Native girls in Hennepin County, Minnesota, are extreme, but they speak to a greater national problem. Nationally, Native girls are more than four times as likely to be incarcerated as white girls, according to the Youth Justice Initiative, higher than any other racial group. This national data showcases that the story we uncover in Hennepin will likely have implications far beyond the county’s borders. 

In a three-part series for the Fuller Project, I intend to combine my expertise on race and gender-based reporting with a local newsroom’s on-the-ground-expertise and community knowledge to illustrate how and why Native American girls face disparities in Hennepin County. This story, supported by the 2021 National Fellowship, will examine discipline in Hennepin County schools, foster care placement, and how Native girls enter and are treated in the county’s juvenile detention system.

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