Storm-battered Puerto Rico would receive an extra $1 billion for its Medicaid program under a House GOP bill that would renew a nationwide insurance program for children.
It’s the first offer of congressional assistance specifically directed at the territory reeling from Hurricane Maria, which wiped out power to millions and destroyed a huge amount of the island’s infrastructure.
The Energy and Commerce Committee is set to consider the legislation Wednesday, though it is unsettling Democrats who say the GOP hasn’t got the right balance. The package taps parts of Obamacare to pay for the Medicaid boost and to renew federal payments to the Children’s Health Insurance Program for five years.
“While bipartisan negotiations have been ongoing, the legislation offered last night by Chairman [Greg] Walden is not a bipartisan agreement,” said C.J. Young, spokesman for Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the committee.
Unlike the states, Puerto Rico receives a limited amount of federal money for Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor, so it risks running out of funds. That’s especially true amid a crisis, such as last year’s spread of mosquito-borne Zika virus and recent hurricane damage.
Puerto Rico is set to exhaust its Medicaid funding by April, so House Republicans want to provide an additional $880 million for use between now and the end of 2019. Their bill would free up another $120 billion if the island’s fiscal oversight board certifies that Puerto Rico Medicaid has taken steps to eliminate fraud or rein in excessive spending.
“We believe this is an important priority that should move forward,” said Energy and Commerce Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Sherman.
President Trump toured Puerto Rico on Tuesday after sparring with Democrats and San Juan’s mayor over the speed of relief effort. And House Speaker Paul Ryan said he expects the administration to ask Congress for additional relief funding, after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria all made landfall on the U.S. and Puerto Rico in successive weeks leaving historic levels of damage from wind and flooding.
“These hurricanes are so extraordinary that we already blew through the rainy day fund we have at FEMA,” Mr. Ryan said on Fox News. “These hurricanes were exceptional.”
For now, House Republicans see a chance to lift up Puerto Rico through efforts to reauthorize CHIP, which provides health coverage to roughly 9 million children whose parents earn too much for Medicaid.
Federal funding for the program expired over the weekend, though states aren’t expected to run out of money until December at the earliest.
Aides say the GOP’s last-gasp push to replace Obamacare with state block grants before the end of September diverted attention from CHIP before it lapsed Sept. 30.
The House reauthorization bill includes series of controversial offsets, such as redirecting $5.5 billion from Obamacare’s public health and prevention fund to community health centers and forcing wealthy Medicare recipients to pay more.
It would also shorten the grace period for Obamacare customers who fail to pay their premiums from 90 days to 30.
Cutting off their coverage sooner would save money, Republicans say, because taxpayers wouldn’t have to keep paying exchange subsidies and cost-sharing payments for the delinquent customers.
“Ranking Member Pallone hopes that his concerns can be addressed so that this can be a strong, bipartisan bill,” Mr. Young said.
The Senate Finance Committee is set to mark up its own CHIP bill Wednesday, though its version doesn’t include money for Puerto Rico or the same offsets, so lawmakers will have to work out the differences.
⦁ Sally Persons contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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