In his statement before the hearing of the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Territories held last week, Governor Lemanu went to bat for permanent residents who are currently ineligible for Medicaid benefits.
He told the Committee that American Samoa is the only US jurisdiction that has a certain population category, referred to as American Samoa Permanent Residents.
“Unlike US permanent residents, these residents are required to have lived continuously in American Samoa for 20 years to gain permanent residency status. These residents are ineligible for Medicaid except on a limited basis for emergency services,” stated the Governor.
He said, a change in the Medicaid law would allow the American Samoa Government to provide needed medical care for this group “who have contributed 20 years of their lives living in our US territory, paying taxes and contributing to the welfare of our community—a US territory.”
Lemanu stated permanent residents in American Samoa need to be treated equally, like US permanent residents that are eligible for Medicaid, but only require five years in the US to become eligible for Medicaid under federal law.
