by Nick Delgado
Guam - The Senate's passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (the healthcare reform bill), will help to provide important provisions to the United States territories, such as making the 30% increase in the federal cap for territories permanent. This would allow Guam to have its cap at $16.9 million. It would also provide a 5% increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Program from 50% to 55%.
It also includes language that puts new eligible citizens in the Medicaid program outside the cap, which includes all non-elderly non-pregnant individuals other wise eligible for Medicaid. And it requires that a study of federal poverty level be conducted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to examine the geographic disparities existing in the territories.
Guam Congressional Delegate Madeleine Bordallo congratulated the Senate for working hard to pass the measure, writing, "I will continue working with the Territorial Delegates and urge the conference committee to retain the House passed provisions for the territories, which are more favorable in their treatment of the Medicaid Program, consumer protections and Health Insurance Exchange for our communities. In my capacity as the Chair of the Health Care Task Force within the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I will work closely with Congresswoman Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and the Congressional Tri-Caucus, to affect the final outcome of conference to be favorable for the U.S. Territories.
"Additionally, I continue to press for provisions that address citizens from the Freely Associated States and Medicaid coverage that is absent from the Senate Health Care Bill. We have already written to House and Senate leadership urging them to include FAS citizens as eligible for the Medicaid program, and for Guam, outside the statutory Medicaid cap. I am hopeful that these issues are addressed before a final bill is sent to President Obama."
The bill was passed by a vote of 60 to 39 early Thursday morning in Washington, DC.
While the legislation aims to cut the U.S. deficit by $127 billion, extend coverage to more than 94% of Americans and insure 31 million more of the uninsured, it must now be combined with the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Once the committee finalizes a combined bill, it will be retuned to both chambers and be passed before heading to President Barack Obama's desk to be signed into law.