de Jongh Leads Territorial Governors in Urging House, Senate and White House to Includes Nation's Territories in Comprehensive Healthcare Legislation

Favorable House version in focus as Senate version holds exclusions for
Medicaid provisions for the Territories, Unfair disparities must be eliminated

On the heels of the Christmas Eve Senate vote to pass comprehensive healthcare legislation, Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. once again led the nation’s territorial governors to speak with one voice on comprehensive healthcare reform. In separate letters to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate Harry Reid (D-NV), and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Governor de Jongh, along with Governor Felix Camacho of Guam and Governor Luis G. Fortuňo of Puerto Rico, urged the ranking leaders of both houses of Congress and the White House to adopt the favorable House language in the final healthcare bill, thereby supporting further Medicaid funding for the territories.

“I will continue to work with Delegate Christensen and my fellow territorial governors to ensure our success as we seek the parity that would provide Medicaid coverage for up to thirty thousand Virgin Islanders and participation in the insurance exchanges that could provide access to coverage for thousands of other uninsured Virgin Islanders,” de Jongh said.

Governor Camacho and Governor Fortuňo joined Governor de Jongh in signing the Virgin Islands-generated correspondence urging Congressional leaders and the White House to reconcile the House and Senate bills to include the 4.4 million U.S. citizens residing in the nation’s territories. “We strongly urge your support for the provisions in the House bill relating to Medicaid funding for the territories and the eligibility of our citizens to participate in the health insurance exchange(s).” 

The Senate measure has exclusions to a comprehensive healthcare bill and would provide only limited assistance to the territories’ uninsured individuals, a severe and crippling disadvantage when compared to the healthcare provisions provided for Americans residing on the mainland. By contrast, the House version does contain provisions for Virgin Islanders, as well as for residents of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. Without the adoption of the favorable House language, territorial governments would unfairly face increasing fiscal burdens and additional constraints on their budgets in caring for their uninsured populations.

“While we have witnessed a major step forward with the Senate’s recent vote, we still have a long way to go. A final bill would represent the most sweeping healthcare reform in our nation’s history. However, failing to address disparities by excluding the Virgin Islands and other U.S. Territories would result in higher total health care spending and would be an unfair fiscal burden on our local governments. The Delegate and I remain committed to obtaining our fair share of federal healthcare resources for Virgin Islanders,” de Jongh said.

House and Senate healthcare committee negotiations are expected to conclude before month’s end. 

###