HHS says the Indian Health Service, the federal group responsible for Native American healthcare services, should pay an Arizona hospital $17.4 million the IHS is currently withholding because of "duplicative" services funding, according to a Nov. 7 Law360 report.
HHS concluded there was no evidence to deny such funds to Fort Defiance Indian Hospital, which serves 47,000 Native Americans, most of whom are Navajo. The dispute had already sparked previous litigation.
The dispute over Fort Defiance Indian Hospital's contract support costs dates to October of last year, when the IHS cut its allocation for fiscal 2022 from $18.5 million to just $1.5 million, a move the agency said was needed to correct past spending inaccuracies.
Fort Defiance, meanwhile, asked the IHS earlier this year to refund $19.6 million in indirect contract support costs for the current fiscal year, according to agency records.