Sanders, Co-sponsors Unveil Legislation to Put Territories on Par with States for Medicaid

[Donkees]

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, June 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) along with seven other cosponsors in the Senate, introduced legislation Tuesday to address the immediate humanitarian needs in the territories, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Territories Health Equity Act of 2019 (S. 1773) would correct long-standing inequities in federal health care funding for Medicaid and Medicare, and give the nearly four million Americans living in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands access to the health care they need. The bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) introduced the companion bill (H.R.1354) together with 37 cosponsors in the House. The Senate version of the bill is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, Latinos for Healthcare Equity, BoricuActivate, Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora (BUDPR), and the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union.

Over a year and a half after Hurricane Maria, much of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands remain devastated. The vast majority of residents in Puerto Rico—a full 85 percent—report they are worried they will be unable to access health care if they need it. Nearly one in four people living in Puerto Rico report they or a family member have developed a new or worsened health condition as a result of Hurricane Maria, and one in three report they or someone in their home have had trouble accessing medical care. Similarly, in the face of an increased demand for services, the U.S. Virgin Islands has been unable to spend the Medicaid dollars required to secure federal matching funds.

Temporary Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands expires in September. This funding cliff could be disastrous for the more than 1.5 million people covered by the program. In Puerto Rico alone, an estimated 900,000 people could lose coverage.

The legislation introduced today would provide the territories with the same need-based, open-ended Medicaid funding that is currently available to the fifty states and the District of Columbia by eliminating the arbitrary cap on annual federal Medicaid funding and increasing the federal matching rate for the territories’ Medicaid expenditures. The bill would also address Medicare disparities by updating hospital reimbursements and increasing funding for the territories to provide prescription drug coverage to low-income seniors. Above all, the bill would ensure that Americans living in the territories are eligible for health coverage that is as comprehensive as the coverage available to Members of Congress.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-co-sponsors-unveil-legislation-to-put-territories-on-par-with-states-for-medicaid