Senate committee hears bill to let Medicaid reimburse traditional healing services

Senator Windiboy brought Senate Bill 187 before the Montana Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee to add traditional healing services and traditional healers to Medicaid-covered services, telling the committee the measure is intended to align state law with recent federal guidance for Medicaid coverage.

Supporters said the bill would let tribal and urban Indian health programs bill Medicaid for ceremonies and culturally specific practices that tribal communities identify as health care. "The healing process for tribal communities involves traditional ceremony and spiritual practices," Patrick Kewaukee, representing the Blackfeet Tribe, Fort Belknap Indian Community and the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy, told the committee. Jason Smith, executive director of the Montana Consortium for Urban Indian Health, said, "Generations of American Indians and Alaska Native people have utilized traditional healing practices to help restore and maintain health and wellness of their communities."

The bill text, as described by Windiboy, adds definitions for "traditional healing provider" and "traditional healing services," and extends community health integration services and principal illness navigation for patients at risk of hospitalization, nursing-home placement or rapid health decline. Windiboy told the committee the measure would cover services…