2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART I - Hospitals, Institutions, And Health Programs (§§ 1 — 343k) › Chapter 20A - Medical Services Administration (§§ 342 — 342r) › § 342h-1 - Authorization for financing

(a) The Administration is hereby authorized to incur obligations up to a principal of two hundred eighty-five million dollars ($285,000,000) under the terms and conditions approved by the Administration’s Board of Partner Entities and the Government Development Bank, to act as the fiscal agent of the Government of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities.
(b) The money from the obligations authorized herein shall be deposited in a special account in the Bank and may only be used:
(1) To pay debts to suppliers, agencies, institutions, the self- insurance (professional liability and debts between funds) reserve fund of the Administration.
(2) To provide operating liquidity and alleviate the ASEM’s fiscal situation during Fiscal Year 2010-2011, as may be determined by agreement with the Bank. From the savings generated through the renegotiation of debts with agencies and institutions, a fund shall be created to cover operating expenses pertaining to the maintenance, habilitation, and reconditioning of the physical facilities. The Bank, in its role as fiscal agent, shall provide the administrative mechanisms it may deem necessary to ensure that such funds are used solely and exclusively for the purposes set forth in this subsection. The special account mentioned in this subsection (b) and the funds deposited therein may not be attached, placed under receivership, frozen, encumbered, or otherwise affected by decisions, judgments, orders, or resolutions issued by the Courts of Justice or the public agencies and/or corporations of the Government of Puerto Rico during any adjudicative proceedings of an administrative or a judicial nature, regardless of whether these were instituted by private persons or public institutions.
(c) The Administration is hereby authorized to pledge and constitute liens on ay of its real or personal properties, whether tangible or intangible, to secure payment of the obligations authorized herein, as the same may be modified from time to time under such terms and conditions as may be deemed necessary and convenient, including, but not limited to, mortgages on real property, mortgages of collateral or assignment of any lease, liens on deposit accounts, securities accounts, or investments of any kind, any lien on personal property or real property for its fixture, the pledging of any credit, account receivable, claim and/or cause of action, the posting of any bond, letter of credit or surety, and the pledging of any other income, asset, fee, cause of action, or revenue of the Administration.
(d) The Administration is hereby authorized to execute all such public or private instruments and any other documents as necessary for and/or pertaining to the obligations authorized herein, including public instruments and documents pertaining to any refinancing, moratorium, extension, modification, or amendment of the obligations authorized herein.
(e) The Government of Puerto Rico shall honor the payment of the obligations authorized herein through budget appropriations made by the Legislative Assembly in the operating budgets of each Fiscal Year, starting in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 and ending in Fiscal Year 2023-2024. To such effect, for Fiscal Years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby directed to consign the amount corresponding to the payment of interest in the operating budgets of the Government of Puerto Rico, submitted each year by the Governor of Puerto Rico to the Legislative Assembly and, as of Fiscal Year 2014-2015 and for the following nine (9) fiscal years, the sum of thirty-one million, five hundred twenty-two thousand, two hundred twenty-two dollars ($31,522,222), plus any applicable interest, to amortize the obligation authorized herein and to pay the interest accrued each year. If, at any time, the budget appropriations or other income of the Administration do not suffice to pay the obligations authorized herein and the interest accrued each year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall withdraw any sums necessary to cover the deficiency in the amount required for the payment of such obligations and interest from any funds available in the General Fund of the Government of Puerto Rico, and direct that the sums thus withdrawn shall be applied to such payment and for such purpose.
(f) The Administration is hereby directed to develop and implement a plan for the aggressive collection of accounts receivable within one hundred eighty (180) days after the date of approval of this section. The Administration shall render periodic reports to the Bank on the implementation of such plan, and file annual reports with the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives on the moneys collected under such plan. Furthermore, the Bank is hereby authorized in its role as fiscal agent, to take any necessary measures for the ASEM to operate as a financially independent instrumentality within a reasonable term. However, ASEM shall assume the remaining portion of the obligation herein provided only after the aggressive collection plan set forth herein is operating and provides such Administration with the expected, sufficient, and necessary fiscal health to operate with its own income, as determined by the Government Development Bank.
(g) The Executive Director of the Administration shall represent the Administration in any acts and in the execution and/or delivery of all public or private instruments and documents mentioned in this section.
(h) As used in this section, the term “Bank” shall mean the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and its successors or assignees.
History —June 22, 1978, No. 66, p. 203, added as § 9A on Nov. 23, 2010, No. 174, § 1.