Torres wants to make sure Medicaid’s funding concerns are addressed

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres wants to make sure that the funding concerns of the Commonwealth Medicaid Agency are addressed so the CNMI will be able to tap the maximum available amount of federal funding for the program.

When asked at a radio news briefing Friday if there is an oversight on the administration’s part pertaining to CMA’s budget proposal, Torres said they are looking at other funding sources.

“We are working now to make sure that we safeguard the Medicaid program,” he said.

The governor said they will maximize all efforts in this matter so that the CNMI, as it had done in the past, does not lose any federal funding.

Torres said he spoke to CMA director Helen C. Sablan in the past and that he and the administration will make sure that Sablan’s concerns will be addressed.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ivan A. Blanco (R-Saipan) recently stated that they were not aware of CMA’s funding concerns during their deliberation on the fiscal year 2021 budget bill.

“Had we received the Medicaid letter during Ways and Means deliberation, we would have addressed the issue,” he said.

Blanco said the House passed the fiscal year 2021 budget, which includes funding for Medicaid, as proposed by the Torres administration. “As the budget is still in the review process, we anticipate to work with Medicaid on its concerns as indicated in its letter,” Blanco added.

Sablan reported a 32.7% increase in Medicaid beneficiaries from February to July 10, 2020, and she expressed fear that the CNMI may lose millions of dollars in health care funding if the government fails to adequately fund the program.

In a letter dated Aug. 25, 2020, Sablan informed Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) that they have been working very hard to ensure that the program complies with the requirements of Title IX and will meet the expectations of the U.S. Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Sablan said the House proposed budget of $2.71 million will result in a shortfall of $6.21 million for the CNMI Medicaid program, as it is required to provide a local match to federal Medicaid funding.

She said they do not believe that it is in the interest of the CNMI to lose millions of dollars in health care funding, especially in an economic time when federal expenditures are one of the few sources of economic input in the economy.

Sablan said the requested funding is required to make reasonable and appropriate progress to administer the program and submit data and reports to the federal government.