United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-07-05 monographic deposited born digital 46 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-169 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169 P0b002ee180377def f:rc00169 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169 RCED-00-169 Minority contractors Native Americans Torts Liability insurance Federal regulations Government liability (legal) Claims processing Litigation Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) coverage to tribal contractors under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, focusing on: (1) the process for implementing FTCA coverage for tribal self-determination contracts; (2) the FTCA claims history for tribal self-determination contracts for fiscal years (FY) 1997 through 1999; and (3) FTCA coverage issues that are unique to tribal contractors.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) federal regulations implementing FTCA prescribe the process that federal agencies must follow in resolving claims arising from the negligent or wrongful acts of federal employees; (2) with the extension of FTCA coverage to tribal contractors, tribal employees under a self-determination contract are considered federal employees for the purpose of FTCA coverage; (3) according to FTCA regulations, claims are subject first to an administrative review and determination by the federal agency whose actions gave rise to the claim; (4) at the administrative level, the Departments of the Interior and of Health and Human Services (HHS) handle these claims; (5) if a claim is not resolved administratively, a lawsuit may be filed in federal court, where the Department of Justice would defend it; (6) in response to GAO's request for claims data, Interior and HHS identified 342 claims, filed from FY 1997 through FY 1999, that arose from programs contracted from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service; (7) at both agencies, these claims involved a small number of tribes, and the damages claimed totalled about $700 million; (8) about two-thirds of these claims involved Bureau programs, most notably law enforcement; (9) the remaining one-third of these claims involved Health Service programs, of which about one-half involved patient care activities; (10) although some of these claims remain open, about 70 percent of the claims have been brought to closure at a cost of more than $2 million; (11) GAO's review identified a number of issues unique to FTCA coverage for tribal contractors; (12) on the administrative side, the U.S. government may be paying more than necessary to resolve claims involving tribal contractors; (13) to the extent that tribes use federal funds to purchase private liability insurance, it is possible that the federal government is paying twice--once for tribes' insurance premiums and once to settle tribal FTCA claims; (14) the potential for duplicative liability coverage exists for tribal contractors because of tribes' long-standing practice of carrying private insurance to cover a wide range of activities, including those subsequently covered under FTCA; (15) neither Interior nor HHS routinely checks to determine whether tribal contractors have private liability insurance that could cover these claims; and (16) on the legal side, lawsuits involving FTCA claims have been filed in tribal courts, although federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear such cases. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169.pdf GAO/RCED-00-169 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-169 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-169; Federal Tort Claims Act: Issues Affecting Coverage for; Minority contractors Native Americans Torts Liability insurance Federal regulations Government liability (legal) Claims processing Litigation Title 28 Section 1346(b) Title 28 Section 2672 Title 28 Section 2680(h) 28 U.S.C. 1346(b) 28 U.S.C. 2672 28 U.S.C. 2680(h) Public Law 105-277