[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17439]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  ON THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO REMOVE THE CAP ON MEDICAID FOR THE 
                            U.S. TERRITORIES

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA MC CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 7, 2000

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill, 
along with my colleagues from Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico, to 
remove the cap on Medicaid payments to the Territories and to increase 
the Medicaid statutory matching rate. Providing indigent U.S. citizens 
in the Territories with the dollars necessary to adequately meet their 
health care needs is not just a necessity, but I believe is a Civil 
Right.
  Since 1997, eliminating the disparities in health care between the 
majority and minority populations in the mainland U.S. has been a major 
focus of the Clinton Administration. While this is an important goal 
and one which I wholeheartedly support, because of the cap on Federal 
Medicaid assistance to the Territories, my constituents and those of my 
fellow Congressional Delegates unfortunately do not benefit very much 
from this effort.
  The lack of adequate health care for the over 4 million residents of 
the territories in both the Pacific and the Caribbean is largely due to 
the cap on federal funding in the Medicaid. Additionally, this fact is 
sadly compounded because the Territories, in large measure have not 
enjoyed the economic success that the mainland U.S. is enjoying. With 
reports every day of record federal budget surpluses, the time is right 
for the Federal government to fulfill its commitment to the health care 
needs of the people of the offshore areas.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in this effort to address this most 
basic and fundamental need of our fellow citizens.

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