On May 22, 2015, Robert McSwain, Acting Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS) announced that the IHS reached a settlement with employee unions.  The settlement, totaling nearly $80 million, was adjudicated after arbitration between the IHS and unions.

IHS intends to cover the costs of the settlement from three funding sources within the Agency:

• $20 million from the new staffing funding increase in FY2015 appropriation, originally identified for the Kayenta Health Center in Kayent, AZ (construction delays have resulted in only a $4 million need for this site);
• $9 million from prior year funding; and
• $50-51 million from prior year third-party health insurance collections.

To read the entire announcement, click here.