(a) No resident of the Virgin Islands shall be denied medical care because of financial inability to pay the cost thereof.
(b) Subject to approval by the Governor, the Commissioner with the advice of the Commissioner of Human Services shall establish reasonable standards for determining the ability of persons or families seeking medical care at public expense to pay for such care. The Commissioner of Human Services shall through equitable application of the standards determine the extent, if any, to which such persons may be able to pay the costs of necessary medical care and shall so certify to the Commissioner. Such certification shall identify the individuals or families whose medical care may appropriately be claimed for Federal financial participation under the provisions of Title XIX of the Social Security Act, or any amendments thereof.
(c) Any person aggrieved by a determination made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section as to his eligibility for medical assistance, or as to scope and/or quality of medical care and services to which he is entitled, or whose claim for such medical assistance is not determined with reasonable dispatch, shall be afforded a fair hearing by a board of appeals as provided for herein. An appeal shall be taken from a determination within 15 days from the date of the same and in all cases where unreasonable delay is alleged by filing a notice of appeal in writing with the Board of Appeals for Medical Assistance for the island or islands involved as provided for in section 284 of this title.