Subject: [big campaign] Palin doesn't know and never did know what it is like to not have healthcare
From: "David S. Bennahum" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 20:58:15 +0000
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

This is big. From our intrepid AK reporter:

http://washingtonindependent.com/10743/palin-family-qualifies-for-free-federal-health-care

Palin Family Could Apply for Free Federal Health Care
By Laura McGann 10/7/08 4:56 AM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — When Gov. Sarah Palin said during the vice  
presidential debate Thursday that her family has gone through periods  
where they’ve been uninsured and she understands what it’s like for  
Americans “to sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how  
are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care,” she forgot to  
mention something.

Unlike the vast majority of Americans, her husband and children had a  
good chance of qualifying for free, federally funded, comprehensive  
health care under a program of the Dept. of Health and Human Services’  
Indian Health Service.

The governor’s husband, Todd Palin, traces his Yup’ik ancestry to his  
maternal grandmother. Sarah Palin routinely mentions her husband’s  
background at public appearances, and did this regularly when she ran  
for governor in 2006. At the time, the issue painted her in a positive  
light with the Native Alaskan voting bloc.

Todd is a lifelong fisherman. Bristol Bay fishing rights must be  
bought or inherited in Alaska. In Palin’s case, he says he bought his  
fishing spot from his grandfather in the 1970s. He also inherited  
shares in two native Alaska corporations. These shares can only be  
passed from one blood relative to another. Private citizens cannot  
purchase them.

Todd Palin’s ancestry grants another plus — it makes him and his  
children eligible to apply for free government health care.

To qualify for the state-based, federally funded program, Alaska Area  
Native Health Service, residents must provide proof of ancestry.  
Cecile Wesley, the director of eligibility at the Alaska Native  
Medical Center in Anchorage, told me in an interview that one way of  
establishing ancestry requirements is to present a shareholder card  
for one of four Alaska native corporations that list “blood quantum” —  
the carrier’s percentage of “Indian blood.”

“[Alaska Native Medical Center] does not have a blood quantum  
requirement,” said Wesley, when I asked what percentage of native  
blood a resident must have in order to receive the healthcare.

One corporation that issues cards with the blood quantum requirement  
is the Bristol Bay Native Corp. According to public disclosure forms  
Sarah Palin filed with the state of Alaska, her husband and their  
children are BBNC shareholders. Palin’s disclosure form is available  
here.

Todd Palin and the Palin children are also a shareholders in another  
Native corporation, Choggiung Ltd.

Wesley said that the Bristol Bay cards have been updated in recent  
years to include the blood quantum. Older cards would not have been  
accepted. In that case, the Palins would have had to establish proof  
of ancestry through the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, or by  
presenting a membership card in a federally approved tribe.

Like Alaska, the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not set a blood quantum  
requirement for establishing native ancestry.

Multiple requests for comment from the McCain-Palin campaign were not  
immediately answered.

It’s unclear whether the Palin’s ever used the native health-service  
program. But, it’s likely that the family had a better option than  
“paying out-of-pocket” for health-care coverage.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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