[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PUERTO RICO'S MEDICAID PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON

                             of puerto rico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 2019

  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Madam Speaker, on September 19 
the House passed a Continuing Resolution to give us additional time to 
agree on a funding package for Fiscal Year 2020 without the disruption 
caused by a government shutdown.
  I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 
including a provision to extend the application of the 100 percent FMAP 
to Puerto Rico's Medicaid Program for the next 7 weeks. We know that 
action was taken in recognition of the unfairness in which the 
Americans who live in the territories are treated by under our Medicaid 
program.
  Federal spending for Puerto Rico's Medicaid program will likely reach 
the $374 million-dollar cap before the expiration of the Continuing 
Resolution. Because of this, we must act quickly to approve H.R. 2328, 
which aligns the statutory spending cap with the actual program 
expenditures, in order to provide a more long-term solution for such an 
important federal program for our fellow Americans who depend on it.