Medical Referral allocated just $1 for FY2023

Esther Muña

“We need help.”

So says Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. CEO Esther Muña after sharing that the CHCC Medical Referral program was only allocated $1 for fiscal year 2023 from the CNMI general fund.

In a news briefing last Wednesday, Muña shared some good news and some troubling news about the Medical Referral program it previously took over back in 2021.

One of the most troubling pieces of information Muña shared was that the program was only allocated $1 in the fiscal year 2023 budget, which was passed late last year.

“Just imagine, we got $1 from as funding for FY 2023. I don’t know if you’re aware of that. But it was $1. We stretched that dollar, we’ve been stretching that dollar for four months since this fiscal year opened, right. We’ve been [able] to stretch that dollar because of the policies that we enforced and have reinforced in order for us to cut back on spending. $1. We’ve managed to make it run for a while, [but] we need help,” she said.

Former representative Christina Sablan confirmed that the Torres administration only appropriated $1 to the Medical Referral program, but clarified that the $1 appropriated was to keep the account open so that funds could be reprogrammed later on.

“To give that some context, we appropriated approximately $1.2 million for CHCC’s subsidy in the annual appropriations, with the understanding that the administration had set aside [federal American Rescue Plan Act] money for medical referral as well. The $1 in the medical referral business unit was to keep the account open so funds could be reprogrammed at CHCC’s discretion. We additionally appropriated another $1 million for CHCC in the [Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation],” she said.

“Part of the transition of the program is CHCC’s increased billing to Medicaid and other insurance providers, along with a review of contracts and other expenditures, so we expected medical referral costs to drop and also better data to assess how much was actually needed in appropriations,” Sablan added.

Aside from the startling news shared, Muña also shared that the cost for the program is expected drop for the CNMI, now that the federal match rate for the CNMI’s Medicaid program will permanently remain at the current 83%.

According to Muña, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) informed CHCC that the Biden administration has decided to permanently keep the federal match rate for the CNMI’s Medicaid at 83%, meaning the CNMI would only shoulder 17% of Medicaid-related costs.

Essentially, Muña said, the CNMI government would now only have to shoulder 17% of medical costs accrued by the Medicaid program. Previously, the CNMI was shouldering 50% before it was lowered to 45% and the CNMI still could not afford it.

CHCC hopes that the 17% match will prove more affordable for the CNMI as it would come from the Commonwealth’s general fund.