By Jesse Liebman --
February 26, 2010
Massachusetts immigrant advocates are filing suit against the state in an effort to get the state's Supreme Judicial Court to strike down a decision made last year by lawmakers to deny tens of thousands of legal immigrants access to subsidized insurance under the state's health care laws.
Health Law Advocates filed the lawsuit Thursday, indentifying the cuts as a violation of the equal protection clause of both state and federal constitutions in a 31-page document.
At the heart of the dispute is the state's 2006 plan to provide health insurance for all residents through the Commonwealth Connector agency. The state budget plan terminated health care funding for approximately 30,000 legal immigrants enrolled in Commonwealth Connector, the subsidized plan that provides insurance to those earning up to three times the poverty level.
The cut was estimated to save the state $130 million a year, which became necessary after tax collections for the fiscal year that ended June 30 fell 12.5 percent, $3.2 billion short of original estimates.
Those bringing the lawsuit say it's unconstitutional to exclude an entire group of people like legal immigrants -- especially because they are still required to sign up for health insurance like other Massachusetts residents under the law.
Because the new program is open only to residents who were on Commonwealth Care as of July 2009, 8,000 legal immigrant residents have been denied insurance coverage entirely, solely because they are immigrants.
Aides to Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and the Massachusetts Health Care Connector Authority, which oversees the 2006 law, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
