About the Fund
The sole purpose of the Darrel Hostler Fund is to empower CRIHB to advocate for better health care and health policy reform for American Indians in California. Because the funding CRIHB receives from federal sources may not be used to fund this work, the Darrel Hostler Fund is critically important to CRIHB’s overall mission.
When you contribute to this fund, you are supporting lobbying in state and federal legislatures, advocacy before state and federal agencies, and CRIHB’s Annual March on Washington, D.C., which puts Tribal health leaders at the forefront of Indian Healthcare Advocacy nationally. The fund also supports the creation of the CRIHB Legislative Guide, which lists all members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, every two years.
CRIHB’s advocacy victories, which would not have been possible without tribal support of the Darrel Hostler fund, include:
- Inclusion of California Indian eligibility language in the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act;
- Extension of the Federal Tort Claims Act to Tribal Health Programs, relieving them of the need to purchase private liability insurance at significant cost;
- Authority for tribal health programs to keep third party collections, allowing them to significantly supplement purchased/referred care funding;
- Historically unprecedented increases in purchased/referred care funding and advocacy to ensure that the formula is fair to Indians in California;
- Passage of state legislation that improved healthcare for Indians in California, including: AB 941 (tribal health programs able to open clinics off tribal lands without duplicative state required licensing); AB 1896 (Tribal Health Programs may employ providers licensed in any state); AB 1233 (ensuring Tribal Health Program access to the CalHEERS system); and AB 1812 (authorizing the California Office of Statewide Planning and Development to release key health data about American Indians and Alaska Natives to the California Tribal Epidemiology Center, which is housed at CRIHB);
- The permanent reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act in 2010.