The case involves an inmate of the Baraga County jail who is a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Apparently, the hospital and the county asked the tribe to reimburse for costs associated with a cardiac event, but too late for any federal or tribal medical cost reimbursement. And so now they’re fighting over who pays the bill (it looks like the county).
Here is the opinion, out of the Michigan Court of Appeals. An excerpt:
Baraga County contends that the Hospital did not take reasonable efforts to secure alternative payment almost entirely because the Hospital did not seek repayment from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Baraga County contends that the Hospital should have known about the possibility of Indian Health Care for Chosa, but it provides no evidence in support of this assertion beyond the somewhat bizarre request for this Court to “take judicial notice of the fact that Plaintiff-appellant routinely bills the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) for reimbursement for medical services provided to tribal members.” Baraga County apparently bases its assertion on the additional contention that “while it may not be politically correct to say so it is objectively true that Mr. Chosa’s appearance in no way disguises his Native American heritage.” The Hospital, more reasonably, points out that Baraga County is effectively urging this Court to adopt a policy of acting on assumptions based on physical appearance. In any event, the evidence of record shows that Baraga County was aware of Chosa’s heritage and that Baraga County informed the Hospital of this in a letter dated September 26, 2006. The record contains no evidence whatsoever that the Hospital knew or should have known anything about Chosa’s heritage earlier than that date.
Turtle Talk 