Welcome to season two of Hope & Healing, a podcast about health issues and health options for tribal citizens and tribal leaders. 

Over the next 13 episodes, we’re going to talk about some of the most pressing health equity issues in our community.  We’ll interview health experts from across Indian Country and relatives who are affected most. We’ll dive into topics such as the opioid crisis in Native communities, maternal mortality among Native women, and environmental health in Indigenous communities.  

We’ll also shine a light on what Native communities are doing to improve health outcomes for their citizens. 

Health care is a complex topic, but we’ll be sure to keep things straightforward, accessible, and jargon free.    

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

In this episode, podcast hosts Levi Rickert and Kristen Bitsuie welcome guests Melissa Gower and Winn Davis for a freewheeling discussion on emerging issues and developments in the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Marketplace programs. Gower is the Senior Advisor and Policy Analyst and the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health. Davis is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Alaska Native Health Board. 

Links:

National Indian Health Board - https://www.nihb.org/

Medicare - https://www.medicare.gov/

Medicaid - https://www.medicaid.gov/

Marketplace - https://www.healthcare.gov/

Native News Online Health Desk - https://nativenewsonline.net/health/

Alaska Native Health Board - https://www.anhb.org/

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

In the first four episodes of the podcast, we spent time talking about Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace Health insurance. In this episode, podcast hosts Levi Rickert and Kristen Bitsuie welcome guest Jim Roberts on the topic of health equity. Jim serves as the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s interim Vice President of Intergovernmental Affairs. Health equity is about bridging the gap for people who don’t possess all social determinants such as wealth, power, and prestige. Your health is linked to what experts call “the social determinants of health” and if you don’t possess one or more of those social determinants, it’s harder to access health care, and you likely will end up with worse health outcomes.

Links:

National Indian Health Board - https://www.nihb.org/

Medicare - https://www.medicare.gov/

Medicaid - https://www.medicaid.gov/

Marketplace - https://www.healthcare.gov/

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium - https://www.anthc.org/

Native News Online Health Desk - https://nativenewsonline.net/health/

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

In this episode, podcast hosts Levi Rickert and Kristen Bitsuie welcome guest Yvonne Myers, an Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Consultant for Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services with more than four decades of experience in public health. Together, they discuss the Health Insurance Marketplace, which is the federal government's online market where people can look at and compare private health insurance options. The Health Insurance Marketplace is an option if you do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid or want to look at other health insurance options.

Links:

National Indian Health Board - https://www.nihb.org/

Medicare - https://www.medicare.gov/

Medicaid - https://www.medicaid.gov/

Marketplace - https://www.healthcare.gov/ or 1-800-318-2596

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

In this episode, podcast hosts Levi Rickert and Kristen Bitsuie welcome guest Adam Archuleta, who has over 30 years of experience working for the Department of Health & Human Services Indian Health Service agency.  Together, they talk about Medicare and why it is essential to Tribes and their citizens. Medicare, unlike Medicaid, is federally funded health insurance for people 65 and older. We also discuss related topics such as Hospital insurance, medical insurance, drug coverage, and Medicare Advantage.

Links:

National Indian Health Board 

Medicare

Marketplace

Indian Health Service

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

In this episode, podcast hosts Levi Rickert and Kristen Bitsuie welcome guest Angie Wilson from the Reno Sparks Tribal Center for a straightforward and jargon-free discussion of Medicaid and why it is essential to Tribes and their citizens. Medicaid provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including low-income adults, children, pregnant women, and people with certain disabilities. Unlike Medicare, which is 100% funded by the federal government, Medicaid is administered by the states and is jointly funded by the states and the federal government. 

Links:

National Indian Health Board 

Medicaid

Marketplace 

Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

Episode 1 - Medicare & Medicaid in Indian Country

This season, we are going to talk about the role that Medicare and Medicaid play in Indian Country and why that matters to tribes and tribal citizens. We plan to explain what Medicare and Medicaid are … how they work in Indian Country … and how using them can help tribes expand care for their tribal citizens. Podcast host Levi Rickert is joined by Kristen Bitsuie from the National Indian Health Board for a straightforward, jargon-free discussion in this first episode of the six-episode podcast series.  

Links:

National Indian Health Board - https://www.nihb.org/

Medicare - https://www.medicare.gov/

Medicaid - https://www.medicaid.gov/

Marketplace - https://www.healthcare.gov/

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.

Hope + Healing is a podcast for Tribal citizens and Tribal leaders who want to learn about health options that offer more care and better care to Indian Country. The host for the podcast is Levi Rickert, editor and publisher of Native News Online. In each episode, he is joined by one of the experts at the National Indian Health Board, a national nonprofit organization that provides a variety of health-related advocacy and technical assistance services to Tribes, area health boards, and federal agencies.

Interested in healthcare in Indian Country? You can find all kinds of useful information and Tribal resources at the National Indian Health Board website. Plus, you can keep up to date on Indian health news at the Native News Health Desk. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

This podcast is produced by the National Indian Health Board and Native News Online, with funding support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Audio production, sound editing, and post-production is handled by Hey Guys Media Group LLC.