Court to hear Indian funding case

WASHINGTON, March 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next term on whether the government is required to make contractual payments to Indian health programs.

The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to enter into contracts with Indian tribes for the administration of programs the department would normally administer itself.

At issue in two cases granted review by the Supreme Court is whether the ISDA requires the department to pay contract support costs for such programs, or whether the payment is barred by a separate federal law.

The cases involve the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation.

Though the tribes say the government has spent money on other programs that should have gone to ISDA payments, a lower court has ruled for the government in the dispute.

The cases should be heard by the Supreme Court sometime next winter.