Puerto Rico: Fast Facts
Puerto Rico: Fast Facts provides a quick snapshot of the island’s demographic, health, and economic characteristics. It also provides some information on federal Medicaid rules, infrastructure, and fiscal challenges ahead.
On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the U.S. Virgin Islands followed by Hurricane Maria less than two weeks later. On September 20, 2017, Maria then made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm, the strongest hurricane to hit the island. These two storms caused significant, widespread damage to these U.S. territories. These resources examine various aspects of the ongoing recovery efforts in these territories, including infrastructure, public health and health care challenges, as well as public opinion on the recovery effort. Also available are databases with information specific to Puerto Rico and the USVI in a variety of areas, inlcuding demographics and the economy, health status, Medicaid, minority health and women’s health.
Featured Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Resources
Medicaid Financing Cliff: Implications for the Health Care Systems in Puerto Rico and USVI
This brief provides an overview of the status of the health care systems and Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) about one and a half years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the islands in September 2017. The hurricanes exacerbated the territories’ existing economic and health care challenges by accelerating outmigration of residents and health care providers and destroying homes, schools, health care facilities, and other infrastructure. After the storms, the territories’ Medicaid programs have served as important resources for addressing residents’ health care needs, but they have operated under longstanding financing challenges. This brief focuses on these challenges and includes KFF analysis of the implications for the territories’ Medicaid program finances, as most of the temporary federal Medicaid funds provided through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and disaster relief are set to expire at the end of September 2019. The other U.S. territories (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam) also face challenges tied to the scheduled expiration of ACA funds.
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Related Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands Resources
- Kaiser Health News Coverage of Post-Hurricane Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Views and Experiences of Puerto Ricans One Year After Hurricane Maria
- One Year after the Storms: Recovery and Health Care in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
- A Comparative Analysis of Affected Residents’ Views of the Response to Hurricanes Maria, Harvey and Katrina
- The Recovery of Community Health Centers in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands One Year after Hurricanes Maria and Irma
- Public Health in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria
- Navigating Recovery: Health Care Financing and Delivery Systems in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
- KFF Briefing Examines Progress and Remaining Challenges for the Health Care Systems in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Six Months After Hurricanes Irma and Maria
- U.S. Virgin Islands: Fast Facts
- Puerto Rico: Fast Facts
Medicaid in the Territories: Program Features, Challenges, and Changes
This brief draws on a survey of and interviews with Medicaid officials in U.S. Territories, as well as other research, to examine key issues and trends in their Medicaid programs. Territories differ from the states on key demographic, economic, and health status indicators. Unlike in the states, where federal Medicaid funding is not capped, and the federal share varies based on states’ per capita income, Medicaid in the territories is subject to a statutory cap and a fixed federal matching rate.
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8 Preguntas & Respuestas sobre Puerto Rico
La crisis de $73 mil millones de Puerto Rico ha sido tema de los medios de comunicación nacionales, y de debate en el Congreso en los últimos meses. Además, varios de los principales medios de prensa han reportado sobre una inminente crisis de la atención de salud relacionada con cuestiones…
Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos
Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos provee una descripción general del las características demográficas, y estadísticas de salud y la economía. También se da alguna informacion del gobierno, reglas federales de Medicaid, y asuntos corrientes que estan afectando el territorio, incluyendo a Zika.