The agency provides health care to nearly 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives through 45 hospitals and nearly 300 clinics in 35 states. HuffPost tried to get an exact number for how many IHS health care providers will stop getting paid this week but are still expected to work. One urban IHS health care provider said morale has plummeted at her clinic in Michigan, where employees live paycheck to paycheck and are scared. The federal government is obligated to provide health care services to tribes because of treaties negotiated generations ago in exchange for huge swaths of land. She said her tribe’s health care services are fine for now because it relies less on federal money than some other tribes.

Source: Huffington Post January 11, 2019 10:41 UTC