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Proposal to make CHC autonomous gets support
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Posted on May 22 2008
Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela is backing a proposal to turn the government-run Commonwealth Health Center into an autonomous institution.
Tudela, in comments submitted to the House panel reviewing the proposal, agreed with the benefits of autonomy outlined in House Bill 16-9, or the proposed Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation Act of 2008.
“In my view, [this bill] offers the CNMI a way to strengthen and improve the delivery of healthcare services in the CNMI. For this reason, my office supports the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation Act of 2008 and urges its approval,” said Tudela.
The House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare held public hearings to receive comments and testimonies from Saipan residents last week.
In the next two weeks, the committee will bringing the proposal to Tinian and Rota residents for their review and comment. Public hearings will be held on May 27, at 6:30pm, at the Tinian Elementary School cafeteria, and on June 6, 2008, also at 6:30pm, at the Rota Round House.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Heinz Hofschneider, says that a Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation would “coordinate the delivery of quality healthcare to all Commonwealth residents in a financially responsible manner.”
The proposed legislation would abolish the Department of Public Health and replace it with a corporation headed by a chief executive officer and a seven-member board of trustees.
The goal is to make the hospital financially independent from the government. But the bill prohibits the corporation from turning away low-income patients in need of healthcare. This means that some appropriations will be made from the CNMI general fund until a comprehensive healthcare financing system, such as universal mandatory minimum health insurance coverage for all CNMI residents, has been enacted. The CNMI government, not the corporation, will continue to be liable for unpaid medical referral charges from outside health care facilities.
