Authors: Latoya Hill, Samantha Artiga, and Nambi Ndugga

Publication Year: December 19, 2025

Keywords: Health Care Access, Medicaid/Medicare, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), Vaccination/Immunization, ACA, Affordable Care Act, Federal Funding, Budget, CHIP, discrimination, policy changes, misinformation

Abstract: 
Recent and forthcoming policy changes may have important implications for American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) people and could widen existing disparities in health and health care. This brief provides an overview of recent policies affecting health and health care for AIAN people and their potential impacts. It draws on data from KFF’s Key Data on Health and Health Care for American Indian or Alaska Native People and KFF analysis of recent laws and policy changes. AIAN people are identified as a racial and ethnic group. However, AIAN is also a political and legal classification. This status recognizes over 570 AIAN Tribes as sovereign nations, establishing a government-to-government relationship that dictates the federal government’s trust responsibility, including the provision of health care to AIAN people in federally recognized Tribes.

Source: Link to Original Article.

Type of Resource: Issue Brief