Mapp Says VI Ready For Affordable Care Act, Seeks To Create Marketplace In Territory

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp is considering ways of creating an Affordable Care Act (ACA) federal exchange in the territory that would see uninsured residents buying into the public healthcare system that’s already seen over 15 million Americans enrolled.

That’s according to Mapp himself speaking at a Tuesday morning presser at Government House, stating that the creation of a marketplace in the territory would benefit not only residents, but the government as well.

According to the governor, because the territory is not part of any national or state exchange, “our people have not yet had access to the full benefits of the Affordable Care Act.” Mapp said while the decision to opt for increased medicaid funding in lieu of the ACA was the right decision at the time, it is now important that all related departments in the territory get fully integrated technologically, “so we can have full and unfettered access to a national or state exchange.”

Mapp said the debate on the national level on whether the territory should be enrolled in the ACA has diminished because of the law’s effectiveness, as millions of Americans have seen their premiums fall, and those who had no insurance or were underinsured now have access to full coverage, which gives them complete access to quality care.

“If this model should extend to the Virgin Islands, if we are able to enter an exchange and we’re able to see a 20 percent reduction in premiums, in the Virgin Islands Government’s case only, that 20 percent would equal some $32 million of reduction,” the governor said. “And so it is important that we do all that is necessary to get ourselves towards a full embodiment as the law may permit, into the Affordable Care Act.”

The Governor said according to a report coming from the lieutenant governor’s office that he read, it would cost about $50 million to start an exchange in the territory with the inclusion of all residents.

“So if we were able to have access to an exchange and see a saving just in the local government’s premium cost, you can see that being able to provide coverage for a vast majority of Virgin Islanders, and to get Virgin Islanders under a covered system — which would help our hospital system — we would be very close to achieving that, and so we are going to pursue that,” Mapp concluded.

While the governor works on the public marketplace, Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter has been in talks with a firm to provide private health insurance in the territory, which would give residents more options when they’re ready to shop for coverage.

“We are making some serious progress and we have had some back-and-forth with that company to try and get some things worked out, [and] I am confident that we will, in the very near future, have that company on board providing individual health insurance packages for the people  of the Virgin Islands,” Potter said. The lieutenant governor did not name the firm seeking to provide the service.