Cherokee Nation chief outlines multi‑million investments and urges protection of Medicaid expansion

Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation told the Oklahoma State Senate on April 7 that his nation is making large, sustained investments in education, housing and health care and urged lawmakers to protect Medicaid expansion.

“Every dollar we had left, we put 70¢ into free public education,” Hoskin said, describing a decades‑long emphasis on schooling. He said the Cherokee Nation recently contributed $7,200,000 to 107 Oklahoma school districts and plans to spend $25,000,000 on scholarships that largely stay in Oklahoma. Hoskin also said the nation is investing more than $40,000,000 a year in housing and is building what he called the largest hospital in Indian country — a $450,000,000 project scheduled to open this summer.

Hoskin connected those investments to Medicaid expansion, saying the program has provided coverage to about 250,000 Oklahomans and that revenue tied to the program supports roughly 1,400 rural jobs and hundreds of millions in health‑care construction over the past seven years. “We will build less health care” if expansion ends, he said, and pledged that the Cherokee Nation would work to protect the policy.

The remarks came after the Senate read a citation recognizing Cherokee Nation Day at the Capitol; Senator Eiffert introduced the tribal delegation, and Huskin emphasized government‑to‑government partnership and shared priorities including workforce development, scholarships and health services.

Hoskin described the tribe’s approach as investing its own business revenues on a multi‑year basis to create housing and career training, saying those steps are intended to keep spending and jobs in Oklahoma. He also highlighted new and expanded health clinics and programs the nation has opened and said tribe leadership intends to continue those efforts regardless of federal timing.

The address did not include a legislative request or a formal proposal for state action; Hoskin framed the remarks as both a report on Cherokee Nation programs and a call to maintain partnerships that sustain health and education gains.