Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Healthcare Medicaid topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CNMI officials say on-island care expanded and Medicaid changes cut medical referral costs by ~60%
Summary
Governor Palacios and CNMI health officials reported expansion of on-island services at Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC), a rise in Medicaid federal match, and a planned use of up to $20 million from a Section 1115 waiver for prevention programs.
Governor Arnold I. Palacios and health officials told the joint legislative session that the commonwealth has expanded on-island health services, reduced off-island medical referrals, and intends to use federal waiver funding for prevention programs.
Palacios credited CHCC and health leaders with hiring specialists, opening clinics in cardiology and pain management, upgrading equipment and adding an MRI. CHCC leaders said those changes and other operational improvements reduced medical-referral costs from about $19,000,000 to about $6,000,000 in two years—"a savings of more than 60%," Palacios said.
George Cruz, identified in the address as the director of the Commonwealth Medicaid Agency, outlined broader Medicaid developments. He said CMA paid approximately $196,000,000 for on-island services during the public health emergency (three fiscal years), and that current coverage includes roughly 18,000 beneficiaries (about 46% of the CNMI population). Cruz said the administration raised the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for CNMI Medicaid from 55% to 83% and that the governor has committed up to $20,000,000 over four years through a Section 1115 demonstration waiver "to go towards prevention services throughout the Commonwealth." He said proposed prevention programs could include nutrition access, chronic disease management, tobacco cessation and substance use disorder support.
Palacios and CMA officials said CHCC has modernized Medicaid eligibility and claims processing systems, expanded telemedicine for Rota and Tinian, and extended breast and cervical cancer treatment eligibility to age 67. The governor said those changes benefit about 18,000 residents who qualify for Medicaid.
The address included no enactment of statutory Medicaid changes; officials described administrative actions, federal-waiver planning and technology investments to reduce referral costs and improve on-island care.
