THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has yet to receive $8.6 million in Medicaid funding from the central government, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna said.
The “CNMI Medicaid Agency is still not paying CHCC for the past year,” she said in an interview on Thursday. The outstanding amount is for the healthcare services that CHCC provided to Medicaid patients from June 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2023.
The CNMI Medicaid Agency is under the Office of the Governor.
Muna said despite CNMI Medicaid’s failure to remit the funds, CHCC continues to meet the standards in quality of care and patient safety, particularly in the areas of infection control, respiratory therapy and fire safety measures.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that CHCC was in compliance with all the conditions of participation, which are critical standards that hospitals must meet in order to participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Medicaid is CHCC’s major payor.
“So CHCC has yet to collect the $8.6 million in Medicaid funds. And despite that, we are still meeting the standards,” Muna said.
Three months ago, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios urged U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to allow the CNMI to use its fiscal year 2024 Medicaid funds to pay CHCC the $8.6 million it spent on the healthcare services provided to Medicaid patients.
The governor told Becerra that the $65 million that the federal government had allocated to the CNMI Medicaid Agency was already depleted, leaving the Commonwealth government with a $30 million shortfall.
