The Guam Office of Public Accountability has released their audit of the Department of Public Health and Social Services' Medicaid program. The report details major issues with program oversight, uncovering millions in questionable payments to Medicaid providers. But what does this mean for those who rely on it the most?

The OPA's audit revealed serious issues with Medicaid oversight - questioning over $241 million in payments and exposing major systemic flaws. But beyond the numbers, real people are feeling the impact.

Speaking with some of our man'amko’, they share their experiences with receiving proper care and treatment under Medicaid.

And while some have had no issues, as one member of our community shared, “No, no trouble. Everything is okay. My doctors are fine. The medication that they give me is the correct one," another commented, “Yes, yes. Everything from the medication to the doctors appointment, or any kind of medication, they give it to me. They cover everything.”

Others have struggled with delays and getting their treatments approved.  “It takes time to process the insurance," said one neighbor.  “There were a lot of problems. Sometimes it takes five hours of staying in the hospital. There’s a process to approve the gout and get medicine.”

“They gave me a lot of problems to cover it.”

The audit found that some providers hadn’t been revalidated for 8-10 years, despite federal and local requirements for updates every five years. That means some patients could be unknowingly seeing unqualified providers, or will struggle to find future care as ineligible doctors are to be removed from the system.

Poor recordkeeping also puts patients at risk of billing issues or unexpected out-of-pocket costs for services they thought were covered. If these issues persist, Guam’s federal Medicaid funding could be at risk, further limiting access to care for Guam's families.

The public auditor is calling for immediate corrective action to restore public confidence and strengthen oversight at Public Health.

KUAM News reached out to DPHSS director Theresa Arriola for comment, but has not received one as of newstime.