The new medical referral rule, which limits the funding provided to Rota and Tinian recipients, is fair, Dela Cruz said in an interview on Wednesday.
“If there’s no money, there’s no money, period,” the mayor said, adding that “the downturn in the economy has affected everybody.”
The medical referral system that the government has been providing to the people “is a bit too extravagant,” he said.
Now that the government’s financial resources are declining rapidly, Dela Cruz said it now has to decide which is more important: paying for a patient’s airline ticket or his medical evacuation.
Dela Cruz said there are a lot of people on Tinian who can actually afford to go to Saipan for their medical check-up and dental services.
He said providing medical referral assistance should be limited only to indigents.
Giving this kind of assistance based on a recipient’s salary level is just fair, he added.
“I think people are supposed to be a little bit more responsible these days because the government has so many other things to take care of,” he said.
Dela Cruz noted, however, that new medical referral policy basically transfers all the responsibilities to the mayors of Tinian and Rota without providing any funding.
He said he has no problem handling such services but, “where’s the funding?”
This “very serious” concern, he said, has to be addressed by the leaderships of Tinan and Rota.
The mayor said there is a central account for medical referrals for the entire CNMI but it was never mentioned in the new regulations.
The Legislature, he added, should ensure that when such services are transferred to the municipal governments, they should come with funding as well.
Dela Cruz also disclosed that an average of 10 people come to his office everyday seeking assistance for medical evacuation to Saipan.
But not all of them get the assistance they ask. Only the indigents who are in desperate need for healthcare are accommodated, he said.
He said his office knows exactly who among the Tinian residents cannot afford to go to Saipan.
