Introduction of the Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act. This legislation seeks to protect the continued delivery of critical healthcare services to Americans in all corners of our Nation by eliminating the general Medicaid funding limitations for territories of the United States.

The Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are subject to a hard, statutory limit on federal Medicaid support, unlike the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This cap means that preventive care and treatment for the poorest Americans in the insular areas will always be less available than for Americans elsewhere.

Congress has also acknowledged this inequity. We acted to provide more Medicaid funding for the insular areas by substantially lifting the cap through P.L. 116-94, Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020. Provisions in P.L. 116-127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act created equity between the states and the insular areas with respect to the increase in the federal-local match for Medicaid. Families First, also, provided additional federal dollars for the insular area Medicaid programs. Most recently, P.L. 117-328, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, made permanent the 83 percent federal match for Medicaid for the smaller territories.

The Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act furthers this progress by creating an enduring policy that safeguards the health of the poorest Americans in our insular areas. By repealing the cap, we will not only ensure that there are sufficient resources to address the ongoing pandemic, but also set up the healthcare systems in the insular areas to respond to the next public health challenge, whatever it may be. Most important of all, we will ensure that day-after-day and year-by- year, those with the smallest incomes and no access to other insurance receive the care that will keep them healthy and help ward off debilitating disease.

The pandemic has brought home this truth: none of us can truly remain well, while some of us are ill. Now it is time for Congress to fully commit to making sure the poorest in the insular areas are treated equitably.

I thank my colleagues who joined me in introducing this legislation-- Ms. Holmes Norton, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Moylan, Ms. Radewagen, Ms. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Torres, Mr. Takano, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Trone, Mr. Case, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bonarnici, Ms. Meng, Mr. Garcia, Ms. Lee, Ms. Moore, Ms. Napolitano, and Ms. Chu.

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