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Governor John P. de Jongh,
Jr. said today that the Virgin Islands has been awarded
a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services to explore the option of establishing
an American Health Benefit Exchange in the Virgin
Islands.
De Jongh said he views
the grant as an acknowledgement by HHS of the pressing
health care needs faced by the Virgin Islands, and as a
step forward in the territory’s efforts to achieve
parity with U.S. States in health care policy. “The
territory will devote these grant funds to examining
whether a health insurance exchange is the best tool for
providing health insurance coverage to uninsured Virgin
Islanders, and for helping small businesses sponsor
health insurance for their employees,” he said.
Under the Affordable Care
Act, a federal health reform law enacted in 2010,
territories may choose to establish an exchange. The
exchange is a marketplace for insurance companies to
offer “qualified health plans” including a set of
benefits determined by the federal government.
Territories and states establishing an exchange must
provide assistance with premiums and other cost-sharing
(such as co-payments and deductibles) to low-income
individuals. The federal law also includes a “Small
Business Health Options Program,” under which small
businesses can sponsor coverage for their employees on
the exchange. If the territory elects an exchange, the
exchange would begin operating in January 2014.
The governor emphasized
that the grant does not obligate the Virgin Islands to
establish an exchange. Instead, he said, the territory
intends to use the $1 million grant to decide whether
implementing an exchange is a sound policy decision. The
HHS grant covers the year between March 22, 2011 and
March 21, 2012. “During the initial months of the
grant, the territory will undertake an analysis of
whether an exchange is feasible from budgetary and
health care policy perspectives, and if so, whether the
Virgin Islands should pursue its own exchange or a
‘regional’ exchange in partnership with U.S. states
or other territories.
If the territory decides
to move forward with the exchange, it will work during
the remainder of the grant year on recommending
legislative and agency agendas to establish the
exchange, collecting stakeholders’ input on relevant
policy decisions, and designing the benefits package and
subsidy eligibility criteria for the exchange.
The Healthcare Reform
Implementation Task Force, established by the governor
in June 2010 and directed by Lieutenant Governor
Francis, will be central to work under the grant. “The
task force will proceed immediately under the grant with
examining whether an exchange is feasible, and if so,
how the exchange can be optimally designed to achieve
affordable health coverage for the territory’s
uninsured residents,” the lieutenant governor said
today. |
