South Dakota U.S. Senator Mike Rounds has formally requested an audit of the finances of the Indian Health Service. Rounds has asked the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct the audit.

Rounds’ request on Wednesday comes at a time when the Indian Health Service is facing intense scrutiny after federal health inspectors uncovered severe quality-of-care deficiencies at some of its hospitals in the Great Plains.
Rounds says IHS is not using their money in ways that serve the Native Americans in the best way possible

Rounds adds that IHS is a bureaucracy, not a health care organization

Rounds says that the health care statistics among South Dakota Native Americans living on the reservations are shocking

The Health and Human Services Department oversees the Indian Health Service, which is responsible for providing health care services to Native Americans across the country.
During a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs last month, Health and Human Services acting deputy secretary Mary Wakefield said the agency “would welcome” an audit.