No Local Medicaid Match Intro'd

Statement

In normal times, the insular areas have asked for the same Medicaid local-federal matching rates as states enjoy. But these are not normal times. So, today, I introduced H.R. 6658 , which requires no local matching funds for Medicaid at least through the end of fiscal 2021. Currently, because of the coronavirus response Families First Act , the local matching rate is only 10.8 percent. But that is more than the cash-strapped Commonwealth government can afford. And the middle of a pandemic is no time to be rationing health resources, as the Marianas will have to do with even that relatively small local match. After Super Typhoon Yutu I was able to get the local match for the Marianas reduced to zero in Public Law 116-20 . The coronavirus crisis is a similar period of disaster and recovery and warrants a similar loosening of local match requirements for federal aid.

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