Kennedy Pledges $1 Billion for Indian Health Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited North Dakota with state and federal officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, to discuss rural and tribal health, agriculture and health-care access. Kennedy pledged $1 billion for the Indian Health Service and discussed strengthening rural hospitals and recruiting health workers; North Dakota has received nearly $200 million through the Rural Health Transformation Program, with nearly $60 million in related funding opportunities and initiatives announced since August. Tribal leaders and officials cited food deserts and higher rates of chronic disease, particularly diabetes, in tribal communities, while Burgum emphasized the role of food access in health. At a roundtable near Bismarck, Gov. Kelly Armstrong highlighted the state’s voluntary Legacy Soil Health and Habitat Program, a fully subscribed two-year pilot funding perennial grass cover on more than 9,000 acres in 2026, and said the state hopes to expand it with federal and local partners. Kennedy also toured a farm using fewer agricultural chemicals and raised concerns about cancer rates in farming states.