THE chair of the House Committee on Health and Welfare, Rep. Tina Sablan, on Friday highlighted the panel’s five key priorities.
First is to monitor the Commonwealth’s Covid-19 response and efforts to protect the health and welfare of our community.
House Committee on Health and Welfare members listen to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna during a meeting on Friday in the House chamber. Also in photo are Speaker Edmund Villagomez, House legal counsel John Cool and senior legislative assistant Claire Sablan.
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
She said, “On the whole, the Commonwealth has done a remarkable job thus far in keeping the worst impacts of Covid-19 at bay, thanks to the leadership of the Healthcare Corporation and the Covid-19 Task Force, the cooperation of our community, and the tremendous work of our U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan in securing hundreds of millions of federal dollars for healthcare, testing, vaccinations, unemployment assistance, food aid, emergency housing assistance and more.”
She said her committee “certainly has a role to play to ensure that funds are monitored closely and that benefits are reaching the people who need them, particularly through the Commonwealth’s health and social welfare programs.”
The panel’s second priority is to look at expanding access to healthcare.
Sablan said one “major avenue for expanding access to care was made possible [by] Public Law 21-28, which authorizes the Medicaid Agency to offer a buy-in program to residents who currently lack health insurance and would not otherwise qualify for regular Medicaid.”
The panel’s third priority is to “reform” the medical referral program.
Sablan said every year the Commonwealth government exceeds its appropriated budget on off-island medical referral in the millions of dollars. In 2020 alone, she said, the Commonwealth spent over $11.6 million on off-island medical referrals even though the allotment for the year was a little over $1 million only.
She said her committee, working with CHCC, the administration, the Medical Referral Office, and other “policy experts” will “conduct a long-overdue review of the program, and identify areas where services could be improved or offered on-island or through telemedicine, and where savings might be realized.”
She added, “We also must be involved in monitoring the proposed transition of the program out of the governor’s office to CHCC, and developing legislation to establish parameters for off-island referrals.”
Sablan said her committee’s fourth priority is to “work on means to raise revenue for healthcare and increase investments in the healthcare system.”
Sablan said the Commonwealth “has some of the highest rates of chronic disease and obesity in the nation, and the costs of a population in poor health simply cannot be underestimated.”
She said her committee “will support increased investments specifically for healthcare, and especially for preventive care, through moderate increases in alcohol and tobacco taxes, and a reasonable tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.”
These measures, she said “received broad support at the community-wide fiscal response summit held in May 2020, and are backed by evidence that they are effective in promoting healthier lifestyle behaviors.”
Also on Friday, her committee met with the CNMI’s LGBT+ group and heard its concerns.
Advancing equality and the well-being of the LGBTQ+ members of the community is also one of her committee’s priorities, Sablan said.
She noted that the CNMI “ranks among the lowest in the nation in terms of policies in place that provide protections for LGBTQ+ residents against discrimination, and notably, in the areas of health insurance, employment and the workplace, and housing.”
“We can and should change that,” Sablan added.
She noted that Rep. Donald Manglona had introduced the Commonwealth’s first hate crimes legislation.
“I ask that this committee support the reintroduction and passage of this bill in the 22nd Legislature, and that we work with our colleagues and community partners to see it through to enactment,” Sablan said.
“We have our work cut out for us in this committee. I am optimistic that we can do great work together with our colleagues and community partners in this term to realize tangible improvements in the overall health and well-being of our people,” she added.
