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Native America Calling: Oklahoma tribes work to keep Medicaid access intact as federal cuts loom
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
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Oklahoma tribes work to keep Medicaid access intact as federal cuts loom
The Oklahoma State Legislature is taking steps to gain more control of the state’s Medicaid payments, drawing concerns from tribal leaders and healthcare advocates.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. warns that the predicted scaling back of expanded Medicaid eligibility enshrined in the state constitution in 2020 would disproportionately affect Native patients. He says dismantling the expansion would cost his tribe alone more than $162 million.

The state’s actions come as both tribal health providers and Medicaid recipients brace for looming federal funding cuts and stricter eligibility requirements.

Also, hear from Alannah Acaq Hurley (Yup’ik). The executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay recently won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work raising awareness about a controversial open-pit copper and gold mine in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska.

The Guardian
The Guardian, a sculpture by Seminole Nation artist Enoch Kelly Haney, sits atop the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Photo: Nicolas Henderson

Guests on Native America Calling
Chuck Hoskin Jr. (Cherokee), principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, headquartered in Oklahoma

Yvonne Myers, Affordable Care Act and Medicaid consultant for Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services, headquartered in Oklahoma

Alannah Acaq Hurley (Yup’ik), executive director for the United Tribes of Bristol Bay in Alaska

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