Bush Budgets targets Native American Health Clinics

(KUTV / AP) SALT LAKE CITY- To chanting and the pounding of drums, hundreds of Native Americans marched in Salt Lake City Friday against a plan by the Bush Administration to cut $33 million federal funding -- which could shut down some urban health clinics for American Indians.

"We're upset that our center is being threatened, and we're here to send a message that you don't mess with a federal obligation," said Dena Ned, executive director of the Indian Walk-In Center in Salt Lake City. "Just because we live off the reservation doesn't mean we're not in need of health care."

About 400 people marched peacefully almost two miles from the clinic to the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building for a rally, police Sgt. Lamar Ewell said.

President Bush's 2007 budget proposal says urban Indians could simply use regular community health centers, instead of the specialized centers currently in use.

The president's budget also asks to add larger health centers for poor people under a $182 million funding increase. The budget also would increase funding for clinics on Indian reservations by about 4 percent over the 2006 fiscal year, said Scott Milburn, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.

But Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said those programs would do little to serve American Indians in urban areas, where the clinics double as social service networks and cultural centers. He said 83 percent of the clients at the city's walk-in center have no health insurance coverage.

KUTV Salt Lake City