A federal bureau focused on the delivery of health and medical services to Native Americans, particularly those residing on Indian reservations.
The bureau in HEW which is responsible for delivering public health and medical services to Indians throughout the country. The Federal government has variable but direct and permanent legal obligations to provide health services to most Indian peoples undertaken in treaties written with the Indian Nations in the last two centuries. The Indian Health Service is responsible for trying to fulfill these obligations within its very severe budgetary restrictions.
An agency of the Public Health Service, which is in the Department of Health and Human Services. The stated goal of the IHS is to raise the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest possible level. The IHS manages a comprehensive health care delivery system for those who belong to the more than 540 federally recognized Indian tribes, and their descendants. Most IHS funds are appropriated for recipients who live on or near reservations, but some programs now provide some access for those living in urban areas.
A bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, responsible for providing public health and medical services to Native Americans.