by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Over $150,000 in Medicare reimbursements for GovGuam retirees has been released and should be in the hands of retirees this week.

Bureau of Budget and Management Research director John Rios tells KUAM that he has since informed the Government of Guam Retirement Fund that the money was released to pay for the Medicare reimbursements.

GGRF director Paula Blas confirms they have received the money and has already started the steps to process the checks which she says should be sent to the post office Wednesday.

It was Monday when Senator Ben Pangelinan wrote to the Bureau of Budget and Management Research and the Department of Administration over the release of Medicare reimbursements to GovGuam retirees. In his letter, Pangelinan wrote GovGuam retirees have informed him that they have yet to receive their reimbursement for Medicare premiums for the last two months.

Pangelinan had stated that the over $157,884 amount was provided for through public law.

As a response to Pangelinan's letter, Rios tells KUAM that the Office of Finance and Budget did not appropriate enough for Medicare reimbursements in the FY2013 budget but made the correction in the FY2014 budget. He adds OFB made the correction by deappropriating from the supplemental benefits and annuity account for retirees and transferred it to the Medicare reimbursement account to cover the shortfall for 2013. He recommends that a bill should have been introduced months earlier instead of waiting as a rider on the recently passed FY2014 budget.