Stacey Plaskett

The decision to relocate ERS and NIFA lacks transparency and is not supported by an overwhelming majority of the stakeholders who partner with the agencies.

And that is woefully inadequate.

The Virgin Islands qualifies for it, meets the qualifications, Congress and CMS have said we would not receive that.

There are individuals that are presently in the Virgin Islands, maybe in other territories as well, who are just not receiving any health insurance.

Thank you for your consideration and attention to these urgent matters.

We look forward to working together to address the immediate issue of the impending Medicaid fiscal funding cliff.

Unless Congress acts, we will be faced with potentially catastrophic damage to our Medicaid program and our healthcare system.

I love my island--it is my home, and I am committed to working with Congress to create a Medicaid system that all of us can be proud of.

Earlier this month, Governor Rossello submitted Puerto Rico's official Medicaid ask to Congress: $15.1 billion in funding at an 83 percent FMAP for 5 years.

The devastating life-and-death outcomes that we face with the potential loss of this ACA funding justifies an increase in the territory's Medicaid funding block grants.

Medicaid is our people's and our territory's lifeline for medical care services.

We made a difficult decision to deny the referral of this child because we didn't have the local match.

We are requesting a 100 percent Federal Medicaid matching rate be extended to the U.S. Virgin Islands for 2 additional Federal fiscal years.

We believe that there needs to be a permanent statutory fix that addresses the unfair and disparate treatment all territories face in their Medicaid programs along the lines of H.R. 1354, the Territories Health Equity Act.

Obamacare provided some relief--an extra $7.3 billion in temporary Medicaid funding and a permanent change to the match to 45 local/55 Federal.

I hope Ms. Muna will be able to tell us what the loss of Medicaid funding will mean to the hospital's ability to deliver services.

But loss of that funding puts healthcare delivery at risk, not just for Medicaid recipients in our islands, but for the population at large.

The 2019 hurricane season has now commenced. More than 400 families in the Virgin Islands badly need this assistance.

But you can change that because you do have the discretion under the Insular Areas Act to take away that cost share.

This is a very tenuous situation that we are living in, and there is no media attention to what is happening in the Virgin Islands.

The Territory's severe disaster-related cashflow problems make it extremely difficult to advance the cash to pay those contractors, and this has led to long delays, work delays, and contractor dissatisfaction.

If you want to be calculating about it, how is it helpful to us in the long run? If you don't want to do it out of Christian goodness, out of the depths of humanity, then think about the long-term ramifications. Think about what it does to…

I have to tell the gentleman that his remarks were very enlightening and thoughtful. The logic of this administration and what they are thinking just does not make sense. In the end, it is going to cost us more. As you said, how is denying…

I thank my good friend and colleague from Philadelphia who always stands up for the rights of the working class of those in cities and elsewhere who are struggling, the working poor. Mr. Speaker, I thank him so much for the work he is…

Leaving that structured community of the military and heading back to life, express feelings of lonely--homelessness and abandonment.