Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Tribal Health Care Reimbursement Disputes

The Supreme Court agreed on Nov. 20 to take a look at whether Indian tribes should be allowed to sue the federal government over reimbursements related to administrative expenses generated by insurers. The federal Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA) empowers Native American tribes to administer their own health care programs. Tribes receive funding from the Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The statute requires IHS to reimburse tribes for some administrative expenses, which are called contract support costs. Contract support costs are defined as “any overhead expense incurred by the tribal contractor in connection with the operation of the Federal program, function, service, or activity pursuant to the contract.”...