Governor de Jongh Hails U.S. House Vote on Health Care Reform Bill

Bill Would Provide Over $500 Million to Improve V.I. Health Care System

Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. Sunday lauded the historic vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the biggest and most important health care reform bill in nearly half a century. The House voted to approve the bill by a vote of 220 to 215. 

“This bill is a major step to ensuring that all Americans gain access to quality and affordable health care, including our citizens in the Virgin Islands and the other U.S. territories,” de Jongh said. The House bill would provide over $500 million over a nine-year period in additional federal funds for the Virgin Islands to expand its Medicaid program for low income individuals and for subsidies for uninsured persons to buy insurance plans on the new health insurance exchange, or marketplace, established by the bill. Virgin Islanders that qualify under the bill would also have the right to purchase the new government-run insurance plan, known as the “public option,” also established by the bill. 

Under the bill, the Virgin Islands would receive an additional $420 million in federal funding to expand and improve its Medicaid program during the period 2011 through 2019. The bill would also increase the federal matching share for Medicaid payments from the current 50 percent level to the highest federal matching rate of any State, which is now 76 percent. The effect of the change would be to reduce the amount of local funds that would be required to access the additional federal Medicaid dollars. de Jongh said that the additional Medicaid funds would allow the local government to increase income thresholds to expand Medicaid eligibility and services, as well as to enroll categories of persons traditionally excluded from Medicaid such as families and individuals without children. 

In addition, the bill would allow uninsured individuals in the Virgin Islands earning above the Medicaid income thresholds but less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level to purchase private insurance, including the “public option,” on the national health insurance exchange which will be established by the bill in 2013. Such individuals would be eligible for federal subsidies to help make the cost of coverage affordable. The Virgin Islands and the small territories in the Pacific would share in a $300 million pot set aside for this purpose under arrangements to be negotiated later by the Territorial governments and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

de Jongh said that while the House bill does not provide the same treatment as the States, it breaks important ground. “It provides a pathway to parity by the end of the reform period, while providing major increases in federal funding in the near term to improve health care for all Virgin Islanders. It is a landmark bill.” The governor commended Delegate Donna Christensen for her leadership and unstinting efforts on the House bill. He also cautioned that the Senate must still complete a bill which is expected to be much different from the House bill, and that the House and Senate bills would also have to be reconciled in a conference between the two Houses of Congress.

In addition, de Jongh said Sunday that health care reform would allow the Virgin Islands to cover approximately 27,000 individuals by 2019. “This equates to four times the number of individuals now currently covered by the Medicaid program. It provides funding to move the Medicaid program in an incremental fashion while the territory builds the infrastructure to support a dynamic responsive Medicaid health care delivery system. 

de Jongh added that the passage of health care reform will be complimented with funding to build an electronic claims processing system which the territory has already received $1 million dollars in grant funding to plan the development of the Medicaid Management and Information System. “We will be working with the provider community during the coming year to seek input and help in building a responsive system for both Medicaid beneficiaries and providers. 

At the same time, the territory will be involved in planning for electronic health records deployment and designing the system architecture to support a transformed health care system which will result in enhanced quality health care for the citizens of the Virgin Islands. “We will provide updates on our activities and opportunities to become engaged in the process. Data, technology and collaboration of stakeholders will be the backbone of sustaining a transformed Medicaid program,” de Jongh said.

###