FIGURE 2—

Gaps in per capita spending between the Indian Health Service (IHS) and Medicare, 1980–2002.

Note. Medicare and Medicaid data were obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services37 (using “enrollee” estimates). IHS user data were obtained from annual unpublished IHS memoranda (1989–2002); extrapolations for years in which IHS data were unavailable were made via fitting a straight line to available data points. IHS appropriations data were derived from (1) the US Department of Health and Human Services38 and (2) written and oral communications with IHS and Department of Health and Human Services program officials in August 2004.