These obligations are for on- and off-island private clinics — $1,195,795.11 for Honolulu/San Diego, $781,132.42 for Guam and $3,598,538.70 for Saipan providers.
Medicaid paid the Commonwealth Health Center $1,959,631.96, Sablan said.
“We are obligated to pay them also even though they are a government entity,” she said.
Sablan said they process the private providers’ claims within two weeks before forwarding them to the Department of Finance for payment.
“Once Finance enters the payment request into the system, the accountant certifies it, the supervisor of the account payables post it and the system will automatically set 30 days for the payment to be processed,” she said.
However, she said, there is usually a delay in the processing of claims toward the end of the fiscal year.
This is because they have exhausted funding and there is always a carryover of obligations to the next fiscal year, she added.
Fiscal year 2010 ended last Oct. 1.
Sablan said the following are the Medicaid funds they received for FY 2010:
-$4,904,000 (Medical Assistance Program) – Strictly for Patient Care
-$1,536,000 (ARRA-MAP) Strictly for Patient Care
-$216,000 – Administration & Training
-$100,000 Enhanced Allotment Plan – Part D Prescription Drug
-$30,000 (ARRA-EAP) – Enhanced Allotment Plan – Part D Prescription Drug
-$818,000 Children’s Health Insurance Program
The total FY 2010 budget amounted to $7,604,000.
The funding sources for FY 2011 are:
-$5,094,000 (MAP) – Strictly for Patient Care
-$398,000 (ARRA-MAP) – Strictly for Patient Care
-$216,000 – Administration
-$100,000 – Enhanced Allotment Plan
-$818,000 – Children’s Health Insurance Program
-$3,035,000 (Health Care Reform) – will be available beginning 4th quarter.
The total FY 2011 budget is $9,661,000.
Sablan said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, funds cannot be used unless the regular Medicaid funds are exhausted.
“It’s the same with CHIP funds,” she added.
The CNMI government needs to match these funding levels, she said.
