Southcentral Foundation asks Congress to make IHS contract support costs mandatory

Southcentral Foundation wants Congress to guarantee what the government owes tribal organizations for running clinics it would otherwise run itself, so those bills stop crowding out other Indian Health Service programs. Two payments are at issue: contract support costs — the overhead tribes take on to run IHS programs — and 105(l) lease payments, which reimburse tribes for the buildings those programs use. Southcentral wants both paid automatically, without the yearly appropriations vote they now depend on.

The request came in March 17 written testimony from Leanndra Ross, SCF vice president of executive and tribal services, to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment.

"Sixty-five percent of the IHS budget is administered by Indian Tribes through self-governance agreements, and this will only continue to grow," Ross said.

Southcentral, based in Anchorage, serves more than 70,000 customer-owners statewide and handles more than 850,000 health care visits a year. It is also asking Congress to fund IHS a year in advance, so tribal clinics aren't left in limbo when the federal budget is late — a step the House subcommittee has already approved in its 2027 spending bill.