Bryan Seeks Swift Passage of Legislation to Replenish Depleted Medicaid Funds

On Monday, Governor Albert Bryan disclosed that the territory had “run out” of money to support the required local match for Medicaid. To ensure that Virgin Islanders can still receive services, he said that Government House had sent draft legislation to the Senate late last week asking that an additional $3 million be allocated for Medicaid matching.

While running out of money is never a good thing, Mr. Bryan said that the issue was indicative that “we’re having so many people access care,” which he found encouraging. He noted that during the pandemic “we had almost 40,000 people” utilizing Medicaid to access services, which were expanded to include “braces, fillings, dentists, different types of appointments,” according to the governor. Referral requirements have also been eased, making access to specialty care a little less onerous. “Before you had to go to East End or Frederiksted Health Center in order for them to refer you, now you can be referred from a regular doctor,” Governor Bryan pointed out.

All these factors combined, he said, has resulted in a rapid depletion of the matching funds. However, the governor does not anticipate that this will be an ongoing issue. “We expect next year it’ll be calmed down a little,” he assured, noting that the V.I. Department of Human Services has “kind of curtailed services a little bit.” The result? “The amount of people on Medicaid has gone down,” he made known.