New federal policies for contracting are creating additional barriers to providing health care in IHS-operated facilities. IHS operates roughly 20 hospitals and dozens of outpatient facilities nationally, often in areas that are remote. The IHS already faced serious challenges – Congress has generally funded the IHS at only one-half of its need, and many IHS facilities are already understaffed. The new policies have not made it any easier for IHS to provide the care it needs to.
More information is available here: https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/15/indian-health-service-new-contract-review-process-bottleneck-to-care/