Health care reform will be high on the list of topics for President Barack Obama’s meeting next Thursday with representatives of the nation’s 564 federally recognized tribes. The president said he looks forward to talks with tribal leaders about ways to “improve their lives and the lives of their peoples.”

The president will be looking for political support from Indian Country for his broader reform proposals, while tribal leaders will be seeking improvements in the health care system for American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

The U.S. Indian Health Service is the closest thing this country has to a single-payer system, serving nearly two million American Indians and Alaskan Natives in 36 states.  >> Read the entire Kaiser Health News article by clicking here.