Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao speaks during a House session last week.
THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is asking the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation to appropriate $2.2 million for the Health Network Program, previously known as the medical referral program.
In her letter to SNILD Chairman John Paul P. Sablan, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said the corporation received from the central government $797,711 in subsidy through Public Law 23-9 or the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriation Act.
However, she said, as of Jan. 29, 2024, the year-to-date expenditures for the program had amounted to over $1.2 million.
Muna said, based on CHCC’s annualized year-to-date expenditure, the total cost for the HNP for the year is estimated to be around $3 million.
To ensure the smooth continuation of the program, she said CHCC had used $847,491 from the corporation’s own general fund.
CHCC is now “kindly requesting” for an additional funding of $2.2 million to sustain the operations of the HNP for FY 2024 and return the $847,491 to CHCC’s own coffers.
Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao brought this up during the miscellaneous part of the House session on Friday, saying that aside from the $797,711 subsidy through P.L. 23-9, the Saipan delegation also appropriated close to $1 million in local funds for the HNP.
Attao asked the legislative delegations of Rota and Tinian to also help fund the HNP.
“I think it’s important that the respective delegations share the burden by putting some money toward the program so we can all assist our people who are off-island getting treatment, and this is a dire need,” Attao said.
“So this is to respectfully ask the delegations of the first and second senatorial districts to chip in so we can help each other out in [assisting] all our patients,” he added.
In the Senate, Sen. Paul A. Manglona also brought the issue up during the miscellaneous part of their session.
He said although the CHCC communication was sent to the Saipan delegation, it involves the HNP, which is for all qualified CNMI patients.
Manglona shared some ideas on how to help CNMI medical referral patients, especially those who are headed to Guam.
One of his suggestions is for the Commonwealth to reach out to hotels on Guam and ask for discounted lodging costs for CNMI patients and their families.
Manglona also asked his fellow senators to schedule a meeting with CHCC and HNP officials “so we can alleviate some of the challenges that our patients and their families are facing. I hope that we can coordinate that meeting.”
