by Mindy Aguon

Guam - There could be some significant relief for island residents who receive medical treatment off-island but have to pay for the expenses out of their own pocket. During a trip to the nation's capitol last week, the governor met with representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services about the possibility of whether Medicare could be accepted in the Philippines.

Governor's chief of staff Frank Arriola said, "The Medicare people have OK'ed and given us the green light to work with them to provide the certain steps that we must undertake locally, the patients here on Guam in order to have their medical expenses out of the Philippines reimbursed by Medicare."

Arriola says it's not a done deal just yet as HSS is working with the administration on specific rules for Medicare reimbursements that include the procedures cannot be done on island in patient service. The service must come from an accredited institution in the Philippines, and Adelup must identify what entity will handle the processing of such claims.