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Guam Committee of the Whole debates $8.1M pharmaceutical-fund payment to Guam Memorial Hospital amid accounting dispute
Summary
Legislators debated Bill 186-38 COR, which would appropriate $8.1 million claimed owed to Guam Memorial Hospital from the pharmaceutical fund. Hospital officials say audited figures show arrears; DOA and BBMR say accounting bases differ and no unobligated funds are currently available. Senators debated amending budget language as an alternative.
Senators in the Committee of the Whole considered Bill 186-38 COR on Dec. 4, a measure the sponsor described as "an act to appropriate the unallotted balance of the pharmaceutical fund to the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority." Senator Sabrina Salas Montanani, the bill's sponsor, told colleagues the bill would not create new spending but would "compel the release of already realized revenue" that she said GMH is owed, citing audited differences that total about $8.1 million.
GMH officials told the committee the calculation is straightforward. "We're always short," GMH said, explaining that their arithmetic multiplies the statutory 6.19% by audited Business Privilege Tax (BPT) receipts and then compares that amount with what the hospital actually received. GMH CFO Yuka Hichenova said the proposed appropriation would cover a roughly $3 million operating…
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