Nearly half of Puerto Rico's population could lose health coverage without additional Medicaid funding from Congress, ABC News reported July 22.
Though the U.S. territory's annual Medicaid needs are predicted to reach $3 billion, Puerto Rico has only been given $375 million for the year, Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi told the news outlet. This is due to restrictions in Social Security Act Section 11108.
"The funding is not the same we would be getting as a state," Mr. Pierluisi said. "You cannot plan or budget reasonably when you are facing this [Medicaid] cliff every couple of years."
Roughly 46 percent of Puerto Ricans rely on Medicaid and 44 percent live in poverty, according to data obtained by ABC News.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse, causing 2,561 deaths among 141,905 confirmed cases.
Several U.S. representatives have proposed the Supporting Medicaid in the U.S. Territories Act in response to the crisis, the article said.