Washington, D.C. —  Saturday, Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomed an agreement in Congress to move forward with legislation that would stabilize Medicaid funding for the Territories through an eight-year plan for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while Puerto Rico gains stable funding for five years.

The bipartisan legislation to be introduced this week will – upon final passage – avert a deadline, termed a fiscal cliff, on September 30, 2021.  The bill will be introduced and marked up in committee this week with the support of the Representatives from the Insular Areas along with the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Health Subcommittee.

 “Eight years of stability for our Medicaid FMAP would be very helpful and provide certainty,” said Congresswoman Amata. “Our people depend on Medicaid for health care access and necessary services, and we must know we have this dependable, steady funding in place.”

This effort has been a legislative priority. Recently, Congresswoman Amata testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the need for additional support for American Samoa’s Medicaid program and modernization of LBJ Tropical Medical Center. Also, Amata is an original cosponsor of the Insular Areas Medicaid Parity Act, a bipartisan bill which would lift the caps.

Congress made a major improvement in recent years by changing from a 55 percent standard federal match to an 83 percent federal match (then adding 6.2 percent for a total of 89.2 percent during current economic circumstances). This bill would codify the 83 percent long term rates, the highest long term matches allowed by the statute in any state or territory, and ensure the territories do not face a sudden change in Medicaid funding.

 “I want to say thank you to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers for their support for this important effort,” concluded Amata. “Thank you to Rep. Darren Soto and Rep. Gus Bilirakis for their work in introducing the bipartisan bill.”