As used in this subpart:

Appropriate ordering official means, unless otherwise specified by contract with the health care facility or provider or by a contract with a tribe or tribal organization, the ordering official for the Service Unit in which the individual requesting contract health services or on whose behalf the services are requested, resides.

Area Director means the Director of an Indian Health Service Area Office designated for purposes for administration of Indian Health Service Programs.

Contract health services means health services provided at the expense of the Indian Health Service from public or private medical or hospital facilities other than those of the Service or those funded by the Service.

Emergency means any medical condition for which immediate medical attention is necessary to prevent the death or serious impairment of the health of an individual.

Health Service Delivery Area means a geographic area designated pursuant to § 36.15 of this subpart.

Indian tribe means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et. seq., which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.

Reservation means any Federally recognized Indian tribe's reservation, Pueblo, or colony, including former reservations in Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and Indian allotments if considered reservation land by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Reside means living in a locality with the intent to make it a fixed and a permanent home. The following persons will be deemed residents of the Health Service Delivery Area:

(1) Students who are temporarily absent from the Health Service Delivery Area during full time attendance at programs of vocational, technical, or academic education including normal school breaks;

(2) Persons who are temporarily absent from the Health Service Delivery Area for purposes of travel or employment (such as seasonal or migratory workers);

(3) Indian children placed in foster care outside the Health Service Delivery Area by order of a court of competent jurisdiction and who were residents within the Health Service Delivery Area at the time of the court order.

Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services and any other officer or employee of the Department of Health and Human Services to whom the authority involved has been delegated.

Service means the Indian Health Service.

Service Unit Director means the Director of Indian Health Service programs for a designated geographical or tribal area of responsibility or the equivalent official of a contractor administering an IHS program.

(a) Type of services that may be available. Services for the Indian community served by the local facilities and program may include hospital and medical care, dental care, public health nursing and preventive care including immunizations, and health examination of special groups such as school children.

(b) Where services are available. Available services will be provided at hospitals and clinics of the Service, and at contract facilities (including tribal facilities under contract with the Service).

(c) Determination of what services are available. The Service does not provide the same health services in each area served. The services provided to any particular Indian community will depend upon the facilities and services available from sources other than the Service and the financial and personnel resources made available to the Service.

(d) Priorities when funds, facilities, or personnel are insufficient to provide the indicated volume of services. Priorities for care and treatment, as among individuals who are within the scope of the program, will be determined on the basis of relative medical need and access to other arrangements for obtaining the necessary care.

(a) Subject to the requirements of this subpart, the Indian Health Service will provide direct services at its facilities, and contract health services, as medically indicated, and to the extent that funds and resources allocated to the particular Health Service Delivery Area permit, to persons of Indian or Alaska Native descent who:

(1) Are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe; and

(2) Reside within a Health Service Delivery Area designated under § 36a.15; or

(3) Are not members of a federally recognized Indian tribe but are the natural minor children (18 years old or under) of a member of a Federally recognized tribe and reside within a Health Service Delivery Area designated under § 36a.15.

(b) Subject to the requirements of this subpart, the Indian Health Service will also provide direct services at its facilities and, except where otherwise provided, contract health services, as medically indicated and to the extent that funds and resources allocated to the particular Health Service Delivery Area permit, to people in the circumstances listed below:

(1) To persons who meet the eligibility criteria in paragraph (a) of this section except for the residency requirement, who formerly resided within a Health Service Delivery area designated under § 36a.15, and who present themselves to any Indian Health Service or Indian Health Service funded facility (and to minor children of such persons if the children meet the eligibility criteria in paragraph (a) of this section except for the residency requirement). Contract health services may not be authorized for these individuals;

(2) To a non-Indian woman pregnant with an eligible Indian's child but only during the period of her pregnancy through post-partum (generally about 6 weeks after delivery). In cases where the woman is not married to the eligible Indian under applicable state or tribal law, paternity must be acknowledged in writing by the Indian or determined by order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

(3) To non-Indian members of an eligible Indian's household if the medical officer in charge determines that the health services are necessary to control acute infectious disease or a public health hazard; and

(4) To an otherwise eligible person for up to 90 days after the person ceases to reside in a Health Service Delivery Area when the Service Unit Director has been notified of the move.

(c) Contract health services will not be authorized when and to the extent that Indian Health Service or Indian Health Service funded facilities are available to provide the needed care. When funds are insufficient to provide the volume of contract health services needed by the service population, the Indian Health Service shall determine service priorities on the basis of medical need.

(d) The Indian Health Service may provide direct services at its facilities on a fee-for-service basis to persons who are not beneficiaries under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section under a number of authorities including the following:

(1) In emergencies under section 322(b) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 249(b), and 42 CFR 32.111 of the regulations;

(2) To Public Health Service and other Federal beneficiaries under Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 1535) arrangements to the extent that providing services does not interfere with or restrict the provision of services to Indian and Alaska Native beneficiaries; and

(3) To non-beneficiaries residing within the Health Service Delivery Area when approved by the tribe or tribes located on the reservation but only to the extent that providing services does not interfere with or restrict the provision of services to Indian and Alaska Native beneficiaries.

(a) No payment will be made for medical care and services obtained from non-Service providers or in non-Service facilities unless the applicable requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) below have been met and a purchase order for the care and services has been issued by the appropriate ordering official to the medical care provider.

(b) In non-emergency cases, a sick or disabled Indian, or an individual or agency acting on behalf of the Indian, or the medical care provider shall, prior to the provision of medical care and services, notify the appropriate ordering official of the need for services and supply information that the ordering official deems necessary to determine the relative medical need for the services and the individual's eligibility. The requirement for notice prior to providing medical care and services under this paragraph may be waived by the ordering official if:

(1) Such notice and information is provided within 72 hours after the beginning of treatment or admission to a health care facility; and

(2) The ordering official determines that giving of notice prior to obtaining the medical care and services was impracticable or that other good cause exists for the failure to provide prior notice.

(c) In emergency cases, a sick or disabled Indian, or an individual or agency acting on behalf of the Indian, or the medical care provider shall, within 72 hours after the beginning of treatment for the condition or after admission to a health care facility notify the appropriate ordering official of the fact of the admission or treatment, together with information necessary to determine the relative medical need for the services and the eligibility of the Indian for the services. The 72-hour period may be extended if the ordering official determines that notification within the prescribed period was impracticable or that other good cause exists for the failure to comply.

(a) Any person who has applied for and been denied health services or eligibility by the Indian Health Service or by any contractor contracting to administer an Indian Health Service program or portion of a program, including tribes and tribal organizations contracting under the Indian Self-Determination Act, shall be notified of the denial in writing together with a statement of all the reasons for the denial. The notice shall advise the applicant that within 30 days from the receipt of the notice the applicant.

(b) If the original decision is affirmed on reconsideration, the applicant shall be so notified in writing and advised that an appeal may be taken to the area or program director within 30 days of receipt of the notice of the reconsidered decision. The appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the grounds supporting the appeal.

(c) If the original or reconsidered decision is affirmed on appeal by the area or program director, the applicant shall be so notified in writing and advised that a further appeal may be taken to the Director, Indian Health Service, within 30 days of receipt of the notice. The appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the grounds supporting the appeal. The decision of the Director, Indian Health Service, shall constitute final administrative action.

(a) The Indian Health Service will designate and publish as a notice in the Federal Register specific geographic areas within the United States including Federal Indian reservations and areas surrounding those reservations as Health Service Delivery Areas.

(b) The Indian Health Service may, after consultation with all the Indian tribes affected, redesignate the boundaries of any Health Service Delivery Area followed by publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Any redesignation of a Health Service Delivery area will include the reservation, and those areas close to the reservation boundaries which can reasonably be considered part of the reservation service area based on consideration of the following factors:

(1) The number of persons residing in the off-reservation area who would be eligible under § 36a.12(a) (1) and (3).

(2) The number of persons residing in the off-reservation area who have traditionally received health services from the Indian Health Service and whose eligibility for services would be affected;

(3) The geographic proximity of the off-reservation area to the reservation; and

(4) Whether the Indians residing in the off-reservation area can be expected to need and to use health services provided by the Indian Health Service given the alternate resources (health facilities and payment sources) available and accessible to them.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the Indian Health Service may designate States, subdivisions of States such as counties or towns, or other identifiable geographic areas such as census divisions or zip code areas, as Health Service Delivery Areas where reservations are nonexistent, or so small and scattered and the eligible Indian population so widely dispersed that it is inappropriate to use reservations as the basis for defining the Health Service Delivery Area.

(d) Any Indian tribal government may request a change in the boundaries of the Health Service Delivery Area. Such a request should be supported by documentation related to the factors for consideration set out in paragraph (b) of this section and shall include documentation of any consultation with or notification of other affected or nearby tribes. The request shall be submitted to the appropriate Area Director(s) who shall afford all Indian tribes affected the opportunity to express their views orally and in writing. The Area Director(s) shall then submit the request, including all comments, together with the Area's recommendation and independent findings or verification of the factors set out in paragraph (b) of this section, to the Indian Health Service Director or to the Director's designee for the Indian Health Service decision. The decision of the Indian Health Service Director or the Director's designee shall constitute final agency action on the tribe's request. Changes in the boundaries of Health Service Delivery Areas will be published in the Federal Register.

(a) The Indian Health Service will issue Beneficiary Identification Cards as evidence of beneficiary status to persons who are currently eligible for services under § 36a.12(a). Persons requesting Beneficiary Identification Cards must submit or have on file evidence satisfactory to the Indian Health Service of tribal membership and residence within a Health Service Delivery Area. The absence of a Beneficiary Identification Card will not preclude an otherwise eligible Indian from obtaining services though it may delay the administrative determination that an individual is eligible for services on a no charge basis.

(b) For establishing eligibility or obtaining a Beneficiary Identification Card, applicants must demonstrate that they are members of a federally recognized tribe. Membership in a federally recognized tribe is to be determined by the individual tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Therefore, the Indian Health Service will recognize two methods of demonstrating tribal membership:

(1) Documentation that the applicant meets the requirements of tribal membership as prescribed by the charter, articles of incorporation, or other legal instruments or traditional processes of the tribe and has been officially designated a tribal member by an authorized tribal official or body; or

(2) Certification of tribal enrollment or membership by the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(c) Demonstrating membership in a federally recognized tribe is the responsibility of the applicant. However, the Indian Health Service may consult with the appropriate tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs on outstanding questions regarding an applicant's tribal membership if the Indian Health Service has some documentation that it believes may be helpful to the tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs in making their determination.