U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) last week called on Congress to address the healthcare crisis in Puerto Rico resulting from back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.
“Following the devastating effects of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico experienced an accelerated exodus of residents and physicians,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick during a Nov. 14 press conference on Capitol Hill.
The congressman urged Congress to approve several related bills, including the recently introduced bipartisan Puerto Rico Integrity in Medicare Advantage (PRIMA) Act, H.R. 6809, which he cosponsors.
“Many people in our community are rightly concerned about the situation in Puerto Rico. It’s time for Congress to act,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick, who was joined during the press conference by Jenniffer González-Colón, the Republican Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and the sole representative of the U.S. territory in Congress, and U.S. Rep. Pete King (R-NY), also a cosponsor of H.R. 6809.
H.R. 6809 would address Puerto Rico’s ongoing healthcare crisis by eliminating inconsistencies in Medicare Advantage Payments and entice doctors to remain and/or return to work in the country, according to a statement released by Rep. Fitzpatrick’s office.
“By eliminating Medicare Advantage disparities, and incentivizing doctors to return, the PRIMA Act would help reconstruct the island’s healthcare infrastructure,” the congressman said.
The number of qualified doctors in Puerto Rico decreased from 14,000 to 9,000 between 2006 and 2016, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Puerto Rico, a problem exacerbated by the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which produced a larger doctor shortage and slowed down recovery efforts there.
H.R. 6809 would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for temporary stabilization of Medicare Advantage payments following Hurricane Maria, according to the bill’s text.
González-Colón sponsored H.R. 6809 on Sept. 13 and U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) joined Rep. Fitzpatrick as a cosponsor of the bill, which has been referred to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration.
Rep. Fitzpatrick also cosponsored the bipartisan National Commission of the Federal Response to Natural Disasters in Puerto Rico Act of 2018, H.R. 6103, which would create a commission to examine the federal government’s preparedness, response, and recovery to the 2017 natural disasters in Puerto Rico, including Hurricanes Irma and Maria, according to the bill summary in the congressional record. The congressman became the first Republican to sponsor the bill after he hosted a roundtable discussion for González-Colón in Bristol Borough, Pa., in October to discuss the federal response to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico.
H.R. 6103 is being reviewed by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
Additionally, Rep. Fitzpatrick supports and cosponsored several other bills to aid Puerto Rico’s post-hurricane recovery efforts, including the HELP Puerto Rico Act, H.R. 3932, which would increase Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rico Medicare Part B Equality Act, H.R. 2531, which would automatically enroll eligible residents of Puerto Rico in Medicare’s medical insurance program, among other bills. These bill also remain under consideration by House committee members.