Medical licensing for providers of medical alternatives and public memberships for patients seeking for health optimization and wellness

FIRST NATION MEDICAL BOARD – SUMMARY

PURPOSE: Establishes a tribal licensing board known as “First Nation Medical Board (FNMB)” for issuing certifications for providers of indigenous medicine (“IM”).

INTENT: The FNMB is necessary to approve or reject applications received from IM providers. Applications can be submitted to become Certified Tribal Practitioners (“CTP”), Certified Tribal Healers (“CTH”), Certified Tribal Technicians (“CTT”), and Traditional Tribal Healers (“TTH”).

ORGANIZATION: FNMB is an organized board with members consisting of tribal practitioners, physicians (MDs and DOs), a tribal member, and a layperson.

ACCOUNTABLITY: FNMB is accountable to an Indian Tribe to whom it pays tribal tax.  Such Indian Tribe has sovereign immunity either independently and/or in affiliation with other tribes as part of a Banding Agreement

FUNDING: FNMB is preferably affiliated with a 7871-non-profit entity established as part of a Tribal Banded Health Care Program and as such is a non-profit organization.  FNMB receives funding from applications, which are $450 for CTP, $350 for a CTH, $250 for CTT, and $150 for TTH. It pays tribal tax to an Indian Nation and may contract with a management company for its operations, which also include d/b/a’s Indigenous Health Care Practitioner’s Organization (“IHCPO”), Indigenous Medicine Institutional Review Board (“IMIRB”), and Turtle Healing Band (“THB”).

OBJECTIVES: FNMB will qualify and certify providers for the practice of IM.  Through FNMB’s administration the following objectives will be accomplished:

  1. Complaints against providers will be handled by FNMB and/or Tribal Court;
  2. Records will be the property of the IHCPO and are kept completely private;
  3. Tax deductions will be available to IM providers for payments to a non-profit;
  4. Only tribal providers licensed with FNMB will be allowed to submit applications to IMIRB for clinical research studies;
  5. Business licenses will only be made available to FNMB providers; and
  6. LLC’s and/or PLLC’s will only be made available to FNMB providers with IHCPO business licenses.

RESULTS: FNMB providers will increase in number such that THB members will have greater access to devices, therapies, and substances used in the practice of IM that would otherwise be unavailable to them from practitioners of conventional medicine.

OUTCOME: FNMB will establish a network of IM providers for THB members seeking natural treatments/products and thereby contribute to improving the optimal health and well-being of THB members who utilize IM services.