Koror State Gov. Yositaka Adachi said they forwarded the letter to the OEK on Friday and they disseminated blank letters to the concerned agencies.
“We ask the Congress to reconsider and exempt us who have insurance and also suggest and recommend delaying it for another year. We also ask them to conduct further review and public hearing so that people will know what services are available for them from the health insurance,” Adachi said in an interview.
The letter was addressed to Senate President Mlib Tmetuchl, House of Delegates Speaker Noah Idechong, Senate Committee on Health and Education Chairwoman Regina K. Mesebeluu and House of Delegates Committee on Health and Education Chairman Kalistus Ngirturong.
Through the petition letter, the signatories stated that “as employees, we have health insurance available through our employers. The health insurance covers our basic medical needs, and includes options for off-island medical treatment. If we are required to contribute to the national health care insurance plan, we will be paying double for the same coverage. Since we have satisfactory insurance we believe that the law should exempt us from the contribution requirements and correspondingly from the insurance benefits and coverage.”
The petition letter also requested the OEK to delay the implementation of the deductions and payments until all applicable regulations have been properly adopted and made known to the public. It also asked the OEK to correspondingly exempt the employer so that no contributions need to be made by the employer for all insurance employees.
Adachi said that after they forwarded the letter to the public, then it will depend on them to sign in and forward it to the Congress.
