Judge: Government required to provide health care to Rosebud

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RAPID CITY (AP) – A judge has ruled the federal government is required to provide adequate health care to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe as part of a 1868 treaty.

Federal Judge Roberto Lange ruled this week the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed the government would provide some level of health care in return for the land the Sioux Nation forfeited.

The tribe sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Indian Health Service in 2016 after the Rosebud IHS Hospital emergency room was closed because of problems at the facility. Tribal members were diverted to hospitals some 50 miles away.

Tribal attorney Brendan Johnson said he was pleased that Lange ruled the government has a treaty duty to provide medical care to the tribe.

“This is a significant victory,” Johnson wrote in an email to the Rapid City Journal. “The finding that there is a judicially enforceable treaty duty is a win for the tribe.”