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DPH seeks more funds to match fed grants
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Posted on Jan 26 2000
The Department of Public Health is seeking a $33.9 million budget for Fiscal Year 2001 as the Medicaid Program continues to be under funded due to budgetary constraints.
DPH Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez yesterday said the CNMI government is having difficulty in matching the federal grant of close to $1.9 million. Currently, the department is only able to provide close to $200,000 in local funds.
A huge amount of money for medical referral program has been saved with the hiring of specialists from the U.S. mainland but some of the cases that they have recently for treatment in U.S. hospitals have been serious illnesses which are very expensive.
While DPH has been successful in cutting down medical costs by bringing in medical experts on the island, the transportation and hotel expenses of the patient as well as its escort have contributed a lot in the huge budget.
Mr. Villagomez noted that the department cannot accommodate all types of specialists since the Commonwealth Health Center is not even equipped to handle delicate cases such as heart ailments.
The department also needs $2 million for its infrastructure needs to replace the deteriorating equipment. For example, a new oxygen generating machine for CHC will cost $250,000. The hospital also needs a new mammography machine.
While recognizing the difficulty of the CNMI government in providing the ideal $40 million budget for the department, Mr. Villagomez is hoping that the proposed appropriation for next fiscal year will be approved.
With the Legislature’s failure to pass a budget for FY 2000, the department is operating under a continuing resolution which is pegged at $33.9 million. However, it already received some $3 million in additional funding for its medical referral program.
With the tight budget, DPH has been trying to maximize federal grants to offset the cost of implementing certain programs. Mr. Villagomez has made it clear that he does not want any disruption in its Medicaid and medical referral programs.
