The Justice Department announced that it authorized a $400 million settlement of litigation brought by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium over federal contract-support payments.

The consortium operates statewide health programs under a compact authorized by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Its 2021 lawsuit argued that the federal government owed additional administrative support for program revenue collected from Medicare, private insurers and other third-party payers.

The legal landscape changed in 2024, when the Supreme Court held in a related case that the Indian Health Service must cover qualifying support costs tied to third-party program income when tribal health contracts require that income to be used for the federal program. The department said that ruling informed its negotiations with the consortium.

The announcement describes an authorized settlement rather than a new annual appropriation. It resolves the consortium's asserted claims under the agreement; it does not establish a general $400 million funding level for every tribal health program.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice — justice.gov source ↗

Source: U.S. Supreme Court, Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe — supremecourt.gov source ↗