CHCC seeks additional $2.2M for medical referral

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has requested the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation for an additional $2.2 million for the operation of the Health Network Program, formerly known as the Medical Referral Program.

CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña said the additional $2.2 million is needed to sustain the fiscal year 2024 operations of the NHP and return the $847,491 of CHCC’s own money it earlier lent the program so it could continue operating.

In a letter to SNILD chair Rep. John Paul P. Sablan (Ind-Saipan) last Tuesday, Muña disclosed that, as of Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, the year-to-date expenditures for the NHP have amounted to $1,215,6234.

To support the NHP operations, the Legislature, through Public Law 23-09, has appropriated only $797,711 for the program. Yet based on their annualized year-to-date expenditure, Muña said the total NHP expenditures for the year are estimated to be around $3 million.

Esther Lizama Muña