Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly pledged to protect and improve health services for Native Americans — whether speaking during his late-January Senate confirmation hearing or an April trip to Arizona, where he met with tribal leaders.

In some ways, he has.

When layoffs were set to hit the Indian Health Service — the federal agency responsible for providing health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives — Kennedy’s department rescinded the actions hours later.

In April, while visiting Arizona’s Navajo Nation, Kennedy told KFF Health News he was making sure broader budget cuts and layoffs at HHS do not affect Native American communities.

But tribal leaders expressed skepticism. They said they’ve already seen fallout from the sweeping reorganiza

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