Rep. Vincent Aldan
REPRESENTATIVE Vincent “Kobre” Aldan said House Bill 24-49, which proposes to waive the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s outstanding penalties and late fees due to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., would help the CNMI’s only hospital fund the Health Network Program, formerly known as the medical referral office.
The House unanimously passed H.B. 24- 29 on Thursday and the bill is now with the Senate.
Authored by Aldan, the measure deems all outstanding penalties, surcharges, and late fees that CHCC owes CUC “paid in full.”
“It’s a $30 million bill for CHCC,” Aldan said in an interview on Tuesday. He said CHCC’s outstanding debt to CUC amounts to approximately $65 million, of which about $30 million is for penalties and late fees.
H.B. 24-29 states that “no portion of CHCC’s principal debt is forgiven in this Act.” The waiver applies only to administrative penalties and aligns with the classification established under Public Law 23-39, which reclassified CHCC’s utility consumption rate from government to commercial.
Aldan said CHCC’s reported utility arrears are “false,” claiming that CUC overcharged the healthcare corporation by more than 50% of its actual usage.
H.B. 24-29 removes the penalties and late fees from CHCC’s total obligation to CUC, he said.
He said the $30 million that CHCC no longer has to pay CUC could instead be used for the HNP, hiring doctors, or acquiring medical equipment.
He said the administration, for its part, would not have to worry about funding the HNP.
Two months ago, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna provided Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and the Legislature with a copy of the 2025 HNP analysis showing that the CNMI government owed CHCC over $2 million for the program.
The governor’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 included $1.2 million for the HNP.
Variety was unable to obtain a comment from CUC or CHCC.
