Gov’t: ‘We effectively faced expiration of Medicaid funds’
Gerardo Portela
The Government of Puerto Rico took a series of steps to address the expiration of the Medicaid federal funds and the commencement of the pay as you go pension plan model, given the insolvency of the Retirement Systems, with several measures to improve its liquidity, said Gerardo Portela, executive director of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (FAFAA.)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act granted the funds.
The measures to anticipate and address the expiration of funds included: a forbearance agreement reached with the State Insurance Fund Corporation, the Automobile Accident Compensation Administration, and the Temporary Non-Occupational Disability Insurance, producing an increase in liquidity of $423 million.
Additionally, payments to suppliers were adjusted pursuant to the Puerto Rico Fiscal Plan, certified on March 13, 2017, which resulted in a liquidity increase of $150 million, he said.
Portela added that $46 million of revenues subject to clawback were retained in accordance with Act 5-2017, better known as the Puerto Rico Financial Emergency and Fiscal Responsibility Act and collections of the General Fund improved by $74 million.
Some $90 million in collections not projected were receive by various agencies, such as the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, the Department of Labor and Administration for Child Support. Federal fund programs surpassed the amount forecasted by $33 million; and there were other positive variance in miscellaneous net inflows of $43 million, Portela said.
“These measures represent an improvement in liquidity of $859 million compared to the balance projected in the Fiscal Plan of $291 million as of June 30, 2017, resulting in a liquidity balance of $ 1.15 billion, on the May 26, 2017 report,” Portela said.
