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Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata said that there were developments in Washington on Tuesday improving prospects for a short-term extension of the current Medicaid federal match (FMAP) of 83 percent for American Samoa, potentially avoiding an upcoming deadline sometimes called a Medicaid cliff.
Washington, D.C. – Thursday, Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata achieved major advancement for dedicated hospital funds in stimulus legislation marked up by the House Natural Resources Committee in a bipartisan agreement. American Samoa is expected to see a range of $120 million to $140 million over the next ten years specifically for “hospital and other critical health care infrastructure” if an additional stimulus bill is passed later this year.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata said the growing use of Telehealth will be a necessary part of the planning to come for a new hospital, and its role in how future health care is delivered, as she highlighted over $521,000 in newly announced Telehealth funding from Congress through the FCC.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomed a health grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This discretionary block grant of $82,132 to the American Samoa Department of Health is for preventive health and health services.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is welcoming a response letter from the Biden Administration directly expressing President Biden’s support for a Medicaid priority that is shared by the Territories, as introduced legislatively earlier this year with the unanimous bipartisan backing of the Representatives of the Insular Areas.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata spoke Tuesday before the House Committee on Rules in a roundtable on food security to explain American Samoa’s needs regarding food and nutrition. The roundtable was titled, Ending Hunger in America: Examining Hunger in U.S. Territories, and its purpose was to learn similarities and key differences surrounding hunger and poverty between the U.S. states and territories. The discussion encompassed federally funded nutrition programs, current status and challenges, and examination of root causes.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata highlighted the introduction this week of legislation directing Medicaid funding to American Samoa for the next eight years. Congresswoman Amata is an original cosponsor of this key bill, which locks in the nation’s best non-emergency federal matching rate, known as FMAP, at 83 percent for the next eight years. That rate is only higher at times for short-term emergency purposes. The bill is titled the Supporting Medicaid in the U.S. Territories Act of 2021, H.R.
Washington, D.C. – Saturday, Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomed an agreement in Congress to move forward with legislation that would stabilize Medicaid funding for the Territories through an eight-year plan for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while Puerto Rico gains stable funding for five years.
Washington, D.C. – Friday, Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata welcomes a recent action by the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for ASG Operations by $2.5 million at Amata’s request. This recommended increase would bring total grants for ASG Operations to $27,120,000 and builds on Amata’s past requests to the Committee toward a fifth straight increase. Over the past four years, Amata has requested increases of $250,000, $718,000, $400,000, and $500,000.
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata last week, as part of a series of meetings while she was in Honolulu, also met with the leadership of the Spark M. Matsunaga Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Medical Center associated with Tripler Army Medical Center that serves so many Veterans from American Samoa.