Medicaid agreement would provide $336 million for American Samoa
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Aumua Amata is hailing a breakthrough Medicaid agreement that would provide major increases and years of stability for American Samoa’s Medicaid services.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) have announced an updated version of their bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 and an agreement to fund critical, expiring health care programs, including Medicaid funding for the territories. This would provide a new cap of $84 million per year for 4 years for American Samoa ($336 million total through 2023).
“This is excellent news, and I strongly urge Congress to pass this into law before Christmas,” said Aumua Amata. “This bill would deliver a major increase to American Samoa in two important ways. First, the cap would be raised to $84 million, a dramatic and much-needed 600 percent increase from the $12 million of the past. Secondly, the match rate would be improved to the maximum allowed (except in the case of disasters) 83 percent federal share. This is much better than the previous 55 percent rate, which was not equitable with the states. I commend and thank Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden.”
Specifically, the FMAP for USVI, Guam, American Samoa, and the CNMI would be set at 83 percent (the statutory maximum for the state FMAP formula) for 4 years, while Puerto Rico’s FMAP would be set at 70 percent. The bill includes efforts directly from the House bill HR 2328, which Congresswoman Amata cosponsored.
Read more: https://www.samoanews.com/local-news/medicaid-agreement-would-provide-336-million-american-samoa