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tribes, their descendants and some others as part of the government's treaty obligations to American Indian tribes dating back nearly a century. The agency seeks to bill Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance for care given to patients who have that coverage. Under the health care overhaul, tens of thousands of people who identify as Native American but are not enrolled tribal members will have to start buying insurance or paying the fine for not doing so.
• In the Dakotas, the IHS provides care through clinics and hospitals on and off reservations. In South Dakota, there are Urban Indian Health Clinics in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Pierre that are funded through a contract with the IHS.
• Donna Keeler, the executive director of the state's three Urban Indian Health Clinics, said her organization has to charge all patients on a sliding scale based on income, but many are covered by Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health care for low-income people. Keeler said she is encouraging those who qualify to get private insurance because it will increase their access to preventative care and specialty services such as surgery and cancer treatment.
• Keeler said she wants her organization to be a partner with the insurance plans that will offer policies through the health exchange, a marketplace where people will be able to buy insurance coverage. For people of certain income levels, the cost of that insurance will be subsidized.
• "If they need specialty care, they would have wonderful access to help pay that through an insurance plan," Keeler said.
• Davis said his office is working with tribes and others in North Dakota to figure out how the Affordable Care Act will affect Native American health care. He said federal officials have not yet met face-to-face with tribal officials, so he is considering contracting with a private health care expert to look at the new law's effect on Native Americans.
• Non-Indian hospitals are also part of the planning because IHS facilities refer patients to them for major surgery or other advanced care that IHS facilities are not set up to provide, Davis said.
• "It's important that we all know this thing together and know how it's going to play out," Davis said.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A South Dakota man is expected to spend more than 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty Wednesday to a federal sex trafficking charge.
• Tajahn Clinton, 35, of Sioux Falls, was arrested a year ago and initially charged

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