Kennedy pledged to protect Native American health, but staffing and funding cuts have already taken a toll

Navajo Nation leaders took turns hiking alongside Kennedy to detail
the tribal nation’s priorities. (Photo by Katheryn Houghton, KFF) 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged to make Native American health a priority, but federal cuts have already sliced into plans and services tribal members need.

While Kennedy’s intervention saved the Indian Health Service from some government cuts, "health officials across tribal nations say those overtures are overshadowed by the collateral harm from massive cuts to federal health programs," report Katheryn Houghton, Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez and Arielle Zionts of KFF Health News.

Tribal members living in more remote areas will have the most difficulty accessing medical services not affiliated with the Indian Health Service. "Many tribal members don’t live near an agency clinic or hospital. And those who do may face limited services, chronic underfunding, and staffing shortages,” KFF reports. “To work around those gaps, health organizations lean on other federally funded programs.”

"Tribes have lost more than $6 million in grants from other HHS agencies, the National Indian Health Board wrote in a May letter to Kennedy," Houghton, Rodriguez and Zionts write. Across many Native American communities, HHS staffing and grant cuts have chipped away at overdose prevention programs, heat and cooling assistance, and vaccination initiatives.

Native Tribal leaders continue to voice deep concerns over the GOP’s “proposed cuts to Medicaid,” KFF reports. "About 30% of Native American and Alaska Native people younger than 65 are enrolled in Medicaid, and the program helps keep Indian Health Service and other tribal health facilities afloat.”

“Some tribal leaders say the recent cuts, and the way the administration made them, violate treaties in which the U.S. promised to provide for the health and welfare of tribes in return for taking their land,” KFF reports. “Tribal consultation is legally required when federal agencies pursue changes that would have a significant impact on tribal nations."