Oklahoma Indigenous cancer rates rising as Congress spars over future of IHS funding

Written By: Sarah Liese (Twilla)

Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed separate appropriation bills earmarking billions of dollars for the Indian Health Service in advance appropriations for Fiscal Year 2027. However, the respective bills fall far short of what tribal representatives requested to better fund the IHS.

(OKLAHOMA) Robyn Sunday-Allen came into this world in an Indian hospital and grew up receiving health care from a tribal Indian Health Service or urban facility. She went on to pursue nursing and worked at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, where she has served as the CEO for the past 16 years.

Read this story on KOSU Radio here.

Sunday-Allen, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has witnessed how the failure to fully fund IHS has let Indigenous communities down in the worst of ways.

“Historically, disruptions and funding to the Indian health system have resulted in loss of life,” Sunday-Allen said, testifying before Congress last February.

A more recent problem she’s witnessed is the rising cancer rates of the Indigenous folks who visited the OKCIC.

“At our clinic, we are diagnosing 15 to 20 new cancer cases each month,” Sunday-Allen said.

She said those rates are a clear indication of why the IHS needs increased funding to support the growing demand for health services, such as hiring more oncologists.

Following the disruptions of federal funding freezes and looming uncertainty of potential IHS cuts, she went before the House Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies on Feb. 27, noting that “our care is too critical to be paused or reduced.”

According to a recent Brookings Institution report, Oklahoma’s Indigenous communities could lose $3 billion in funding for essential services from the Trump administration’s proposed grant freeze. Oklahoma is among the second-most-affected states listed in the report.

After enacting the funding freeze in late January, the White House swiftly withdrew the order. A lawsuit, New York v. Trump, is now pending in a federal appeals court, awaiting a decision on whether federal law was violated.

Both the U.S. Senate and House passed appropriations bills this month — both fell significantly short of the $63 billion request from the Tribal Budget Formulation Workgroup, which takes into account the broad health status of Native Americans and Alaska Natives and the resources provided to the IHS.

The House Appropriations Full Committee passed a bill last week that allocates $8.41 billion for IHS, which includes $6.05 billion in advanced appropriations for fiscal year 2027.

The Senate Appropriations Full Committee passed a similar appropriations bill; however, the funds provided to the IHS are millions less than those in the House budget, coming in at $8.1 billion for IHS, including $5.3 billion in advance appropriations for fiscal year 2027.

The Senate and House will need to come together to reach a final bill that will pass through both chambers.

“If Congress cannot come to a funding agreement by that deadline [of Sept. 30], they will need to pass a Continuing Resolution to keep the funding levels at the FY25 level until they can reach an agreement,” the National Council of Urban Indian Health stated in a press release. “Should political disagreements lead to a government shutdown, [Urban Indian Organizations] UIOs and parts of IHS will be protected by Advance Appropriations.”

Sunday-Allen said the IHS should be fully funded to provide Native people with life-saving care, such as those in Oklahoma who are undergoing cancer treatment.

“To me, cancer has become the new diabetes in Indian country,” Sunday-Allen said. “We have hired a full-time oncology nurse, case manager and a contract oncologist. This is why funding for our health programs, as well as initiatives like the Native American Cancer Outcomes Program, is more critical than ever.”