Lawmakers lobby for more Medicaid funds

Local lawmakers visiting Washington D.C. yesterday asked a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for help in their effort to seek more federal funds for the local Medicaid as well as other financial assistance to enhance health care programs in the CNMI.

They disclosed that Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Georgia), author of the Patients’ Bill of Rights, made a commitment to assist the island in improving health policies here after meeting with him Tuesday in the nation’s capital.

According to Rep. Malua T. Peter, chair of the Committee on Health and Welfare who is part of the 10-man delegation, the U.S. lawmaker also discussed with the group other health programs such as telemedicine and children’s health insurance.

But the delegation sought his help in increasing the amount of federal funds given to the Medicaid by cutting the matching requirement from dollar-for-dollar to 75-25.

“What we had asked him is whether it’s possible for him to help us out,” Ms. Peter told reporters in an telephone interview from the U.S. capital.

The Commonwealth has been receiving nearly $2 million from Washington for the program, but health officials maintain the amount is not enough in view of skyrocketing medical costs and growing number of residents relying on the assistance.

In the past few years, the government has incurred huge debts since many of those under Medicaid required treatment off-island. An average of close to 12,000 are beneficiaries of the program every year.

Aside from that, the CNMI also spends substantial amount of its annual budget for medical referral of patients in the mainland or in the Philippines, thus exerting a huge burden to the dwindling cash resources of the government.

Telemedicine

One of the programs that could alleviate the financial strain is the telemedicine which the Department of Public Health has adopted to improve the delivery of health care system as well as to provide continuous training to medical staff in the CNMI.

Telemedicine is a technology innovation in which two distance health facilities communicate using state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment. DPH has already forged agreement with some hospitals in Hawaii and the mainland for this purpose.

To further develop such a program, Speaker Benigno R. Fitial said the Standford University Hospital has expressed interest to link with the Commonwealth Health Center.

“The real purpose is to reduce the medical referral program costs…. which have been rapidly increasing every year,” he said in the same interview.

Rep. Brigida Ichihara, vice chair of the Health and Welfare Committee, pitched for the children’ health insurance program which she hopes to institute in the Commonwealth.

Mr. Norwood, she said, had offered to help them draft legislation so that children in the CNMI between one to 18 years old can be covered by the insurance for their health care needs.

“This is one way to help all of those who are in need. We don’t want to [deny] any child from receiving proper health care,” said Ms. Ichihara during the interview.

More meetings

Meanwhile, the delegation is nearing to the end of its week-long visit to Washington with a “busier” schedule, according to Vice Speaker Alejo M. Mendiola.

Meetings are planned with key members of Congress, including House Majority Whip Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Reps. George Radanovich (R-CA), Bob Schaffer (R-CO), Jim Hansen (R-Utah) and Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA).

Today, CNMI legislators are expected to hold discussion with congressional groups like the Western Caucus, Americans for Tax Reform and the Traditional Values Coalition.

On Tuesday, they met with Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming), a ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee which has oversight of the insular areas.
Mr. Fitial said they had discussed with him the conditions in the CNMI and the efforts the government is undertaking to boost the local economy, including labor and business reforms.

Mr. Thomas voted in favor of the Senate proposal seeking full extension of the federal immigrations laws to the Northern Marianas, whose passage in the lower house is still uncertain as the CNMI has lobbied for its disapproval due to devastating impact on the island’s economy.

“We can tell that… he would be considering [our situation] and he would be supportive of our cause,” said Mr. Fitial.
Aside from these policy-makers, the delegation also met with the editorial board of Washington Times, led by Helle Bering, in its headquarters.

The visit to Congress and other agencies in the capital, which began over the weekend, ends tomorrow.