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- By Elyse Wild
As the only news desk exclusively covering health in Native American communities, in 2025, we aimed to focus on enterprising coverage in four areas: mental health, maternal health, the overdose crisis, and environmental health. After listening to our readers and our sources — the people on the ground living in Indian Country every day — they told us that these are the issues that matter most.
We published deep dives on Native midwives and Indigenous breastfeeding support; culturally centered addiction care driven by tribal value and how Indigenous knowledge is critical to adapting food systems to the rapidly changing climate.
We introduced you to the people and methodologies driving positive health outcomes for Native people in the face of generations of bleak disparities.
2025 was also a year of covering a relentless breaking news cycle out of Washington. The administration change brought massive funding and staffing shifts in federal agencies that directly serve Indian Country — like the Indian Health Service — and in those that subgrant for critical public health services in Native communities — like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Programs shuttered, and grant pipelines clogged as communities rallied to shore up resources to fill cavernous gaps that drive health disparities in Indian Country.
As we stand at the starting line of 2026, tribal health organizations, professionals, and advocates are operating in a new landscape to bring healing to their communities today and for the next seven generations. Here are the health stories we will focus on in 2026.
New Mexico Lawmakers Broach Forced Sterilization of Native American Women
In November, the New Mexico Legislature's Indian Affairs Committee reviewed a joint memorial calling for a truth and reconciliation committee to study the history, scope, and ongoing impacts of the forced sterilization of Native American women at Indian Health Service facilities. The resolution is slated to be introduced in the state legislature's first session in 2026, kicking off on January 30.
If passed, New Mexico would become the first state in the nation to formally acknowledge the long history of forced sterilization.
We will cover the resolution and the subsequent investigation for truth and justice. If the resolution does not pass, we will remain on the story and give voice to the thousands of Native victims of reproductive atrocities and what it means for Indian Country today.
Overdose Crisis
Our readers have told us over and over that the overdose crisis is one of the most pressing issues in their communities.
While overdose rates in the general population dropped in 2023, Native communities continued to experience the highest overdose rates of any demographic.
Last year’s gutting of federal programs threatened the stability of funding that has been key to supplementing dollars from tribal opioid settlements.
In 2026, Native News Online will continue to look at the why behind the numbers; innovative healing models; the keys to sustainable harm reduction; and Native communities fund healing from addiction in Indian Country.
Domestic Violence
Four out of five American Indian and Alaska Native women experience violence in their lifetimes, with rates of domestic and sexual violence significantly higher than among non-Native women. According to the latest data, more than 56 percent of Native people have been victims of intimate partner violence.
Last year, the feds invested $15 million into StrongHearts Native Helpline, the only domestic violence hotline for Native Americans. The funds are the first the organization has received directly from the Department of Health and Human Services, rather than as a sub-grantee, signaling a potential shift in the siloization of Native victims of domestic violence.
Native News Online will bring solutions-focused coverage to domestic violence against Native people and the unique solutions geared toward mitigating the challenges of being a survivor in Indian Country.
Indian Health Service Strategic Realignment, Director Appointment
Last year, the IHS announced it would undergo a strategic realignment to uphold its treaty responsibilities while optimizing care. In December, it kicked off a round of tribal consultation..
The agency has long struggled with inadequate funding and a 25% staffing shortage. The full scope of the realignment hasn’t been made clear.
As well, the IHS closed out 2025 without a director. Sans its top position, the agency — tasked with providing health care for nearly 3 million Native Americans — has been steered by deputy director Benjamin Smith.
In 2026, Native News Online will cover the developing realignment. We’ll examine if it delivers on its promises to increase access and quality of care, and keep you up-to-date on the appointment, or lack of appointment, of a director to lead the agency amid the changes.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
The disproportionate number of missing and murdered Native people whose cases remain unsolved — and in some cases, unopened — continues to be one of the most egregious outcomes of colonization, broken treaty promises, and federal apathy. Jurisdictional confusion, systems that exclude tribal lands, and systemic racism continue to drive the crisis.
In February 2025, the government removed from its website s a first-of-its-kind federal report on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis (MMIP). This move set off alarm bells amid the sweeping changes brought on by the new administration. Compiled by the Not Invisible Act Committee, which gathered expert insight and first-hand testimony across Indian Country, the final report included recommendations to address the crisis’s underlying factors.
Native News Online will continue to bring focus to the crisis, focusing on federal implementation of recommendations made by the Committee; examining the efficacy of state alert systems for missing Native people; and the families and advocates who lead their own searches and quests for justice in a system designed to exclude them.
ACA Tax Credits
Before recessing for the holidays, Congress failed to extendAffordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, triggering soaring premiums for millions of Americans who purchase health coverage through the marketplace.
According to the Urban Institute, 318,000 Native people were enrolled in ACA plans, and the Urban Institute estimates that 126,000 of those will lose their coverage without the tax credits.
The chronically underfunded IHS relies on third-party billing, generating $1.8 billion in 2023, significantly bridging the massive funding gaps that plague the agency.
While Congress returns to session this week, there is no clear path to an agreement that would extend the credits and ease the burden of premiums.
Native News Online will cover how the increased premiums are affecting people on the ground in Indian Country and what they mean for IHS and tribal health care.
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