Non-emergency off-island referral program in Hawaii takes a step forward

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Medicaid State Agency — referred to as the ASG Medicaid Office — continues to pursue a pathway in Hawaii to establish a non-emergency off-island medical referral program for local residents seeking treatment.

After months of meetings and conversations, the Medicaid Office director Sandra King-Young said the office has identified two providers willing to work with the Medicaid program to accept patients from American Samoa.

Additionally, Medicaid made significant progress securing a Honolulu hotel that is willing to provide accommodations for patients from the territory.

"We still have some issues to work out like the transportation piece and provider agreements,” King-Young explained. “Key to our efforts is processing a number of test cases to assess our operational policies and gaps that we need to address to ensure the feasibility of our referral procedures."

Meanwhile, the only referrals that are currently in operation with the ASG Medicaid office are emergency referrals to New Zealand and limited referrals to Hawaii. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all non-emergency medically necessary referrals have been suspended due to border closures and strict travel policies.