Latest KFF Health News Stories
Tribes Question Kennedy’s Promise To Protect Them From Health Cuts
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Native Americans Hurt by Federal Health Cuts, Despite RFK Jr.’s Promises of Protection
The Indian Health Service was mostly spared in the federal government’s widespread staffing cuts, but tribal governments and organizations have lost funding elsewhere in the melee of federal health agency cuts.
Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths
Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.
Recortes en servicios de idiomas generan temor a errores médicos, diagnósticos equivocados y muertes
Cerca de 69 millones de personas en el país hablan un idioma que no es inglés, y 26 millones de ellas hablan inglés, pero no con fluidez.
Trump’s Fast-Tracked Deal for a Copper Mine Heightens Existential Fight for Apache
Apache tribal members are already feeling psychological and spiritual harm as the Trump administration moves to fast-track a deal to turn their sacred land of Oak Flat, Arizona, into a copper mine.
Federal Cuts Gut Food Banks as They Face Record Demand
Food banks nationwide are being pinched by record demand, high food prices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts. As the economy plods onto shaky ground, food bank leaders hope Congress patches the holes by passing a new farm bill.
Medicaid Cuts Would Kneecap Health Services, Tribal Leaders Warn
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Amid Plummeting Diversity at Medical Schools, a Warning of DEI Crackdown’s ‘Chilling Effect’
Enrollment of underrepresented groups at medical schools fell precipitously this academic year after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action. Education and health experts worry the Trump administration’s anti-DEI measures will only worsen the situation, even in states like California that have navigated bans on race-conscious admissions for years.
Tribal Health Leaders Say Medicaid Cuts Would Decimate Health Programs
As Congress mulls significant cuts to Medicaid, Native American tribes are bracing for potentially devastating financial fallout. That’s because Medicaid is the largest third-party payer for Native American health programs, funding that has helped address chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service.
A Program To Close Insurance Gaps for Native Americans Has Gone Largely Unused
Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.
The Growing Inequality in Life Expectancy Among Americans
To deliver on pledges from the new Trump administration to make America healthy again, policymakers will need to close gaps in longevity among racial and ethnic groups.
Native American Patients Are Sent to Collections for Debts the Government Owes
Federal law says Native Americans aren’t liable for medical bills the Indian Health Service promises to pay. Some are billed anyway as a result of backlogs or mistakes from the agency, financial middlemen, or health systems.
Tribal Leaders Ask Feds To Declare Syphilis Outbreak a Public Health Emergency
For Native American communities in the Great Plains, data paints a clear picture of the devastation caused by an ongoing syphilis outbreak. According to the South Dakota Department of Health, 649 cases of syphilis have been documented this year. Of those, 546 were diagnosed among Native Americans, who make up only 9 percent of the […]
Tribal Health Leaders Say Feds Haven’t Treated Syphilis Outbreak as a Public Health Emergency
The National Indian Health Board has urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare a public health emergency as an alarming syphilis outbreak, which disproportionately affects Native Americans, continues. This is the latest plea for more resources from tribal leaders after previous requests went unanswered.
Trabajadores de salud comunitarios ayudan a mejorar la salud de habitantes de zonas rurales
Se ha comprobado que estas iniciativas mejoran la salud de las personas y el acceso a la atención preventiva, al tiempo que reducen las costosas visitas al hospital
Community Health Workers Spread Across the US, Even in Rural Areas
Community health workers are increasingly common in rural areas, where they help patients overcome barriers to accessing care and staying healthy.
Cash Shortages and Complex Rules Impede Native American Health-Care Access
Each year, the Indian Health Service rejects tens of thousands of requests to fund outside care that it doesn’t provide, forcing patients to go without treatment or pay big medical bills themselves. The IHS is supposed to provide free care to Native Americans, but it does so only at scattered clinics and hospitals the agency funds and then manages […]
Patients Suffer When Indian Health Service Doesn’t Pay for Outside Care
The Indian Health Service has a program that can pay for outside appointments when patients need care not offered at agency-funded sites. Critics say money shortages, complex rules, and administrative fumbles often block access, however.
Tribal Health Officials ‘Blinded’ by Lack of Data
A strong public health system can make a big difference for those who face stark health disparities. But epidemiologists serving Native American communities, which have some of the nation’s most profound health inequities, say they’re hobbled by state and federal agencies restricting their access to important data. American Indians and Alaska Natives face life expectancy […]
Native American Public Health Officials Are Stuck in Data Blind Spot
For decades, state and federal agencies have restricted or delayed tribes and tribal epidemiology centers from accessing public health data, a blackout that leaves health workers in Native American communities cobbling together information to guide their work, including tracking devastating disease outbreaks.
