By The Star Staff
New Progressive Party (NPP) candidate for governor Jenniffer González Colón on Monday presented more actions that she will take if elected governor, this time to ensure the financing of the Vital Plan card used to manage the health of 1.3 million beneficiaries on the island.
“Almost half of our people depend on the Health Card for their medical care,” González Colón said. Our goal is to continue to ensure its proper financing and to continue expanding the benefits of the Card, until we achieve equality in this program that is so vital for our people. We also want our providers to receive due compensation for their services, in order to have a robust health system.”
The NPP president and current resident commissioner said her proposal has three key points:
* Activate the Multisectoral Task Force throughout the four-year period to support the efforts of the next resident commissioner before Congress and the federal government to achieve fair and equitable funding for federal health programs. At the same time, an education and training campaign will be maintained by way of constant lobbying that includes the state government, the private sector and local and national non-profit organizations.
* Achieve fairer Medicare payments for health care providers, along with an increase in minimum premiums for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Puerto Rico to at least the same level as that of the Virgin Islands, and the inclusion of Puerto Rico residents in federal programs that affect the health from which they are now excluded, such as, Supplemental Health Insurance (SSI), the Medicare Savings Program (which pays for Part B coverage), Extra Help (also known as the Part D Low Income Subsidy).
* Third, the NPP government program includes measures to comply with integrity and transparency requirements so as not to put funds at risk.
The NPP candidate for governor continues to offer solutions to problems NPP-made with someone's else money. The Vital Plan, in any of its inceptions, is susceptible to modifications but not the ones been proposed here, the only area that PR controls is its administration. The fact that these are federal programs run by The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore, Maryland pose quite a challenge for improvement in the amount and quality of the covered services.
The continuation of the program is hardly in doubt since PR is a "territory;" thus, the financial allocation will come on the due date.
The idea of a "Multisectoral Task Force" to assist the Resident Commissioner is another questionable proposal. The…