Over $100M in ACA money for American Samoa will be returned if it is unused by Sept. 30th
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA Over $100 million remains in the balance of unspent federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) money for American Samoa and this entire amount will be returned to the federal government at the end of this month if it is not used, according to the American Samoa Medicaid Agencys director Sandra King-Young.
Congresswoman Aumua Amata announced from Washington D.C that the US House yesterday passed bipartisan legislation, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, which would extend American Samoas full 100% federal Medicaid match for another 8 weeks after the end of the current fiscal year 2019, while Congress continues work on long term assistance. (See separate story for details.)
King-Young appeared Wednesday before the Fono Joint Budget Committee for her agencys FY 2020 budget and was asked to provide an update status on ACA funds.
Rep. Larry Sanitoa queried first, as there are concerns amongst lawmakers on what will happen to the ACA funds at the end of this month. He noted that LBJ Medical Centers proposed FY 2020 budget lists $7 million in ACA funds as one of its funding sources.
Read more: http://www.samoanews.com/local-news/over-100m-aca-money-american-samoa-will-be-returned-if-it-unused-sept-30th