A dissenting justice noted the ruling for the tribes could cost the government between $800 million and $2 billion annually.
The Supreme Court has hit the Biden administration with a massive bill after siding with Native American tribes in a dispute over federal health care funding, ordering the federal government to reimburse millions in administrative costs and pay future expenses.
In a 5-4 vote, the High Court ruled that the federal government owed the two tribes the millions of dollars they paid after taking over their health care programs as part of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which was meant to give tribes more sovereignty.
Justices John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch joined their liberal colleagues, while Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
Writing for the majority opinion, Roberts said that it was « necessary » for the federal Indian Health Service (IHS) to cover costs in order « to prevent a funding gap » between tribes and the IHS. The court ruled that, « If IHS does not cover those costs to support a tribe’s expenditure of program income, the tribe would have to divert some program income to pay such costs, or it would have to pay them out of its own pocket.
