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Officials say EITC reimbursements not received; GMH and DOC leaseback deposits were not made
Summary
Officials told the committee that the $35 million annual lease payment pledged for the Guam Health Care Campus financing was never deposited because the expected Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) reimbursement was not received; related annual lease payments to DOC were likewise not funded.
Legislators asked about long‑standing financing arrangements for the Guam Health Care Campus (a leaseback financing) and the Department of Corrections modernization plan. Officials told the committee that Public Law 36‑56 pledged a $35 million annual lease payment for up to 40 years, to be funded by EITC reimbursement in FY2022 and then from the general fund in subsequent years. The administration said the EITC reimbursement was never deposited, so the lease payments described in the statute were not funded.
Committee members pressed whether GMH had access to funds or whether DOC had more than the $5 million appropriation authorized this year. The administration said DOC only has the $5 million appropriated for the current fiscal year and has used about $1 million of that so far; previous larger sums cited in other documents were not actually received or deposited.
On hospital reimbursement policy, a Department of Administration official told the committee that Tefra (cost‑based reimbursement) options have been discussed for years but that moving Guam away from Tefra toward a prospective payment system would likely require federal legislation. The administration said improving Medicaid reimbursement rates and addressing physician professional-service reimbursement rates (which use Hawaii-based comparators) could materially affect GMH revenues and would be a longer-term priority.
Committee members asked for written confirmation about the EITC reimbursement status and for clear accounting of what funds are immediately available to GMH and DOC.
