WASHINGTON, D.C. (Office of the CNMI Congressional Delegate) —U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan succeeded in attaching a one-time payment of $27,100,000 for the Marianas Medicaid program to appropriations passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Wednesday here. The White House has said the President will sign the legislation. The funds will allow the Marianas Medicaid program to pay its bills to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. and private healthcare providers that have been piling up over the last two years. As a result, the Medicaid program will begin fiscal year 2025 on October 1 debt-free.
“Our Medicaid program has been under severe financial pressure because so many people became eligible for this form of federal health insurance during the pandemic and during the on-going economic downturn in our islands,” Congressman Sablan said on Wednesday (Thursday local time). “Medicaid’s inability to pay its bills has put our hospital at risk and forced health providers to turn away patients.
“Today’s action, appropriating an additional $27.1 million, will put Medicaid finances back on track, so those in need of health services are cared for.”
The continuing resolution passed Wednesday keeps the U.S. government funded through December 20, while Congress works to complete appropriations to cover all of fiscal 2025.
The 49-page resolution is generally free of new spending requests, but Sablan was able to make the case for a one-time funding boost just for the Marianas; and he won support from both Republican and Democratic leaders to include the money he asked for.
“I am most grateful to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as well as Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro for their understanding of how dire the situation is for the Marianas Medicaid program,” Kilili said. “I also want to thank Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and her Democratic counterpart Frank Pallone — and their staff — whom we have been updating on the financial predicament of Marianas Medicaid throughout this year. They understood what an emergency we face.”
Some 16,000 Marianas residents currently depend on the Medicaid program for their healthcare, down from 40,000 during the pandemic. The program helps those who are otherwise uninsured and who have low incomes and few personal assets.
The funding continues a long history of legislative success for Congressman Sablan. When he was first sworn in to the U.S. Congress in 2009, the Marianas was receiving less than $5 million each year for the Medicaid program and the Commonwealth government had to match that money 50-50. Sablan steadily increased the annual funding — the Commonwealth will get about $65 million for 2025 — and lowered the matching rate to 83-17, less than any U.S. state.
