SENATOR Paul A. Manglona on Thursday said CNMI medical referral patients on Guam have not been able to take their medicines on time because pharmacies there no longer accept CNMI Medicaid for their prescriptions.
In his letter to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther Muna and CNMI Medicaid Acting Director Vicenta Borja, the Rota senator said it has been over a year now since the CNMI patients on Guam, who are covered by CNMI Medicaid, have been having this “current misfortune” so he was writing his request to express his “deep concern.”
He said such circumstances “have resulted in the added burden and stress of our patients and their families who cannot afford such prescriptions out of pocket.”
As a result, he said many CNMI patients have had to delay taking their medication until they return to the Commonwealth where they can request a new prescription from their primary physician in order to use their Medicaid with local pharmacies.
The senator said, “It is a well-known fact that further delay in taking medication will be detrimental to their health, especially since scheduling an appointment can range from a few days to a few weeks.”
“In more unfortunate cases,” he added, “patients who require an extended treatment plan and are unable to return to the CNMI sooner have had to seek assistance from family members living in the CNMI, send their family a copy of their prescription in order for a family member to pick up their medications under the patient’s Medicaid, and then pouch the medication back to Guam.”
Manglona said this process “results in further delay of patients taking their medication in an already intense situation as family members are trying to cope with the patients’ medical diagnosis.”
He said these “are just two scenarios that have been shared with me by our medical referral patients who have been denied use of their Medicaid for purposes of obtaining their prescribed medications while on Guam. I can only imagine the extraordinary measures other patients and their families have had to endure in an effort to get their medication in a timely manner. Something needs to be done.”
He added, “I humbly and urgently request for your immediate attention to this matter. It is critical that we come together in an effort to resolve the issues that are hindering our patients from obtaining their medication.”
