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Babauta vows to soon reopen MIAP office
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Posted on Apr 15 2012
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Juan N. Babauta disclosed yesterday that revival of the Medically Indigent Assistance Plan (MIAP) is in the works.
MIAP is a program established to provide assistance to non-insured indigents by providing discounted rates on their prescription drugs as determined by the healthcare corporation. Its fund is from the compact impact money provided to the CNMI yearly, which covers citizens of Federated States of Micronesia.
Babauta acknowledged that opening of the MIAP Office within the corporation is important for the medically indigent population.
“As soon as we are able to hire staff to man the MIAP Office it will also handle the screening for those who may qualify for Medicaid. We need to coordinate this, however, with the Medicaid Office for certification,” Babauta said yesterday, adding that the timing for the opening will depend on how quickly the corporation can hire a qualified staff person.
Saipan Tribune learned that the CEO has recently approved the hiring of a qualified employee for the MIAP program, which processing is expected to be completed very soon.
Babauta is in favor of hiring a part-time employee for the MIAP office for now who could also assist with Medicaid. The CEO also expressed his desire to see a Medicaid personnel stationed at the hospital to do Medicaid assistance.
He revealed that during his recent official trip in San Francisco, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had expressed support to the program. Babauta said he will coordinate with Esther Muna, the governor’s appointee to oversee the Medicaid program in the CNMI, for the MIAP’s opening. Because of the limited resources and austerity measures implemented in CHC, its MIAP office was closed since late last year.
Since its closure, many indigents who used to avail of the program’s service have been affected because they were not able to process their renewals while some did not receive any update on their pending applications due to its sudden closure. Saipan Tribune learned that there are about a hundred MIAP clients currently availing the discounted drugs whose cards are still active.
