This site brings together my research on Indian health policy and financing, with a particular focus on how federal policy, data, and financing systems shape the resources available for Indian health care.
Indian health financing isn’t a subject most people spend a career on. I did — and this site is where that work lives now that I’m retired. It’s not a stack of papers to wade through; it’s a map of how the funding, the policy, data, and people connect, built from decades of seeing it up close.
I worked in Indian health as a Tribal health program administrator, a Tribal health director for the Port Gamble S’Klallam, Skokomish, and Squaxin Island Tribes. I worked for two leading Indian health organizations: in executive leadership and policy at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and from 2019 to 2023 as the Director of National Indian Health Board’s Data Project. The need to respond, with Data, to the Covid Crisis interrupted some of the work you see here.
Is This Site for You?
This portal is designed as a living map of how funding, policy, and people connect. Whether you are a tribal leader, a policy analyst, a researcher, or a student, these archives trace the structural mechanics of Indian health financing, Medicaid and Medicare integration, and data-driven policy reform.
This site focuses on the long-term financing, policy development, and administrative data systems of American Indian and Alaska Native health care. It is primarily an academic and historical resource, not a source of current regulatory updates, clinical epidemiology, public health practice guidance, or active political advocacy
See what this site does not cover
To help researchers and policy analysts quickly determine if this repository is a value-added resource, please note that the following topics fall outside the scope of this site:
No Ongoing Updates: This site serves as a static academic and historical repository documenting long-term structural finance, Medicaid/Medicare policy, administrative data systems, and the development of American Indian and Alaska Native health care financing. It is not maintained as a source of current news, regulatory changes, or policy updates.
No Clinical or Epidemiological Guidance: The repository does not provide clinical information, medical advice, disease surveillance, or current epidemiological findings. Its focus is on health care financing, policy, administration, and the historical development of systems affecting AI/AN health care.
No Public Health Practice Guidance: This is not a resource for current public health practice, program implementation, clinical protocols, or operational guidance for Tribal health programs.
No Active Policy Advocacy: The material documents and analyzes the development of health financing policy and administrative systems. It is not intended to serve as an active advocacy platform or to represent the current policy positions of Tribes, Tribal organizations, federal agencies, or other institutions.
Historical Rather Than Current: Many of the documents reflect the circumstances, data, and policy environment in which they were originally produced. Readers should not assume that historical findings, estimates, regulations, or policy descriptions remain current.
If your research concerns the historical development of Indian health financing, Medicaid and Medicare policy, Tribal health administration, or the administrative data systems used to understand these programs, this repository may be useful.
Explore the Site
Below is a map of how that work fits together — the funding streams, the policy shifts, and the papers that trace them.
The papers in this archive represent different parts of a continuing examination of how Indian health care is financed, delivered, measured, and improved. The Indian Health Finance Research Map provides a framework for understanding the major areas of this research, while the Indian Health Finance Research Timeline shows how the work developed over four decades. No claim is made that the author participated in the 1970s — his career in health began in the 1980s, and in Indian Health in 1995.
The Research Over Time
This timeline shows the development of the research across more than four decades. The work evolved from participation in national policy and technical advisory efforts into a broader body of research examining Indian health financing, data, coverage, and health system performance.
The early work established a foundation in federal and Tribal health policy. Later research increasingly focused on Medicaid, Medicare, enrollment, data, and financing relationships — bringing together the policy experience and data work that inform the research presented on this site.
Navigating the Archive
Looking for a specific paper or topic? Use the primary navigation menu or search bar above to filter by topic, publication year, or administrative jurisdiction.
Students & Researchers: All papers and technical reports are fully indexed and open-access for citation and academic research.
