Jeniffer Wiscovitch Padilla

When I learned that an attempt had been made to intimidate my sources because they spoke out about an issue I had investigated — one that directly affects hundreds of thousands of patients in Puerto Rico — I wondered: How could a company go to such lengths to prevent discussion of its financial condition? My […]

The attorney and health care administrator, who served under the Vázquez and Pierluisi administrations, questioned the financial figures the health insurer submitted to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Puerto Rico and said the company’s true financial condition must be determined urgently.

This year, ASES has issued two fines against First Medical: one for $1.8 million for failing to pay providers and another for $1.4 million for failing to submit metrics for its call center. In 2024, the insurer was fined three times, for a total of more than $1.5 million, for failing to pay provider claims.

Monthly premiums have risen by an average of 100% over the past decade — and by more than 1,400% for retired government employees — while patients face higher copays, shrinking benefits and fewer doctors.

Doctors and other providers have stopped accepting the plan due to payment issues and say they are worried about the future of the insurer that covers the health care needs of half a million people in Puerto Rico.

A CPI investigation into the hospital’s sudden closure less than two years after it opened finds that serious financial problems and legal entanglements existed even before it began operating.

Despite soaring medical costs and widespread need, the government distributes life-saving health funds through an opaque system of arbitrary decisions.

Despite not being confirmed for the position and facing numerous corruption allegations, the nominated Secretary of Health has already hired a close group of doctors who have been publicly defending him.

Some of this money could have been used to implement initiatives from the Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Plan, which needs to be resubmitted to the Legislature for approval.

Most of the "new positions" for specialists announced by the outgoing Secretary of Health are internships for general practitioners and existing positions, rather than new training slots for medical specialists, which are desperately needed to address the service crisis on the island.

As temperatures and heat indexes in Puerto Rico continue to break records, the homeless population struggles to survive on the streets with no government action plan in place.

The DS has only managed to vaccinate 19 children, it lacks materials and resources, and its equipment and facilities are obsolete to face the sustained increase in cases.

The bankruptcy filed by Grupo HIMA under Chapter 11 for reorganization is around $500 million. While these debts grew, politicians or members of their families were hired by the company.

In 2023, the Island experienced heat indices above 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and September closed as the hottest since 1899.

A small tech company called SupportPR, owned by a donor and collaborator of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, has controlled and set the hiring guidelines for tech jobs at the Department of Health since the pandemic that has exceeded $144 million.

The tool is not yet working to its total capacity because hospitals have not completed the training. About 50% of the information on deaths is still collected manually.