Public Comment

Protests have erupted in the island of Puerto Rico over the federal government’s unequal payments to the island’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. For decades, Congress has capped federal reimbursements to Puerto Rico’s healthcare costs, bringing the system to the brink of collapse. Puerto Rico faces a humanitarian crisis unless Congress takes steps to address its crushing debt. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, took the unusual step of marching in solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico in San Juan a few weeks ago to highlight the discriminatory practices of the U.S. federal government towards their colonial step child.  

For example, Medicaid does not pay for nursing home care or for long-term care in Puerto Rico. People are often forced to pay for private nurses because of long waits and chronic shortage of nurses in public hospitals. Over 300 doctors fled the island last year. Reimbursements are capped at 15 percent compared to New York’s 50 percent. Poorer states like Mississippi and Alabama receive 80 percent. The government of Puerto Rico has been forced to borrow $20 billion of the $72 billion debt to pay for health care costs. The ticking debt bomb is accelerating with furloughs and reduced hours of all government workers.