{"id":378691,"date":"2026-04-14T08:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378691\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T08:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:50:09","slug":"united-indian-health-services-can-now-get-medi-cal-reimbursement-for-treating-substance-abuse-disorder-with-traditional-cultural-practices-lost-coast-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378691\/","title":{"rendered":"United Indian Health Services Can Now Get Medi-Cal Reimbursement for Treating Substance Abuse Disorder With Traditional Cultural Practices | Lost Coast Outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Potawot Village in Arcata, United Indian Health Services\u2019 main facility. Photo: UIHS.<\/p>\n

Press release from United Indian Health Services:<\/p>\n


\nUnited Indian Health Services (UIHS) announced today that it has
\nbecome the first Indian Health Care Provider (IHCP) in California to
\nsuccessfully receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for Traditional Health
\nCare Practices. This milestone follows the October 2024 federal
\napproval of California\u2019s Section 1115 CalAIM waiver, which
\nauthorized Medicaid coverage for cultural healing services as part of
\nsubstance use disorder treatment for the first time in state history.<\/p>\n

UIHS recently
\nsatisfied a claim under new California Department of Health Care
\nServices (DHCS) regulations, marking a significant step in
\nintegrating culturally rooted healing practices into mainstream
\nhealthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis milestone
\nrepresents the culmination of decades of advocacy and the resilience
\nof our communities,\u201d said Elizabeth Lara-O\u2019Rourke, CEO.
\n\u201cRecognizing the healing practices of our people as part of
\ncomprehensive care affirms what American Indian \/ Alaska Native
\n(AI\/AN) communities have always known – that culture is healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For generations,
\nNative communities have relied on traditional healers and natural
\nhelpers to provide holistic wellness, though these services were
\nhistorically not eligible for reimbursement. By working through the
\nstate approval process, UIHS can now offer these culturally based
\nhealing services as part of everyday care and be reimbursed.<\/p>\n

This milestone
\nreflects UIHS\u2019s ongoing commitment to making culturally grounded
\nhealing more accessible for Native communities.<\/p>\n

About United Indian
\nHealth Services (UIHS) United Indian Health Services is a healthcare
\norganization providing comprehensive, culturally competent care to
\nAI\/AN communities in Northern California. UIHS integrates medical,
\ndental, vision, behavioral health, and traditional health services to
\nsupport holistic wellness and continues to lead in advancing
\nculturally grounded care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Potawot Village in Arcata, United Indian Health Services\u2019 main facility. Photo: UIHS.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-378691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}