Northern Mariana Islands Rate Review Grants Award List

Cycle I Grant Application Summary

CNMI Grantee: Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Department of Commerce

Award Date: March 29, 2011

Award Amount: $1,000,000

• Improve Transparency: The CNMI Department of Commerce plans to conduct extensive community outreach to educate residents about rate review. The Department also aims to improve reporting and data collection so that information about health insurer rates is accessible to the public through a consumer-friendly interface.
• Improve the Review Process: The Department of Commerce intends to construct a historical record of health insurance rates and policy practices.

Cycle II Grant Application Summary

CNMI Grantee: Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Department of Commerce

Award Date: September 21, 2012

Total Award: $2,000,000

Baseline Award: $2,000,000

• Pursue Additional Authority: CNMI plans to seek authority to establish health insurance premium review in the individual and small group market.
• Improve Transparency: The Department of Commerce plans to conduct extensive outreach to consumers on all the inhabited islands of CNMI, including Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, using various means to reach consumers and businesses, including town halls and website upgrades. The Department also intends to establish a consumer interface that encourages consumers to participate in the public comment process associated with rate review.

Cycle III Grant Application Summary

CNMI Grantee: Department of Commerce of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands

Award Date: September 23, 2013

Award Amount: $1,500,000

• Establish Medical Claims Data Collection: Currently, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) does not have a Data Center that collects, analyzes and publishes health care fees and prices in the jurisdiction. With Cycle III funding, the Department of Commerce plans to establish a Data Center that collects medical claims data. The Department of Commerce plans to collect data through voluntary means, while pursuing statutory authority to require the submission of medical claims data. The newly-collected data will be protected through rigorous privacy and data security protocols.
• Enhance Pricing Transparency: The Department of Commerce will contract with a non-profit or academic institution to publish health pricing data through a consumer-friendly website. Easy-to-understand reports will be published on the website of the Department of Commerce.
• Integrate Health Pricing Information into Rate Review: The newly established Data Center will provide the CNMI Office of Rate Review with additional benchmarks to be used in assessing the reasonableness of rate increase requests submitted by health

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