North Dakota tribal treatment programs hindered by ‘archaic’ regulation, leaders say

BISMARCK — The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation is looking to the North Dakota Legislature to address a major “impediment” to health care access on the state’s tribal reservations.

During a State and Tribal Relations Committee meeting on Friday, Oct. 24, Good Road Recovery Center Director Jasten Schock told lawmakers of his two years working at the Bismarck-based treatment facility, he’s spent the most time working around “IMD waivers.”

An Institution for Mental Diseases, or IMD, is defined by federal regulation as a facility with more than 16 beds that focuses on providing services for people with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders.

Facilities with more than 16 beds are not eligible for Medicaid reimbursements, a threshold Schock called an “archaic, outdated regulation.”