Court: Massachusetts must cover legal Immigrants
Boston, MA, United States (KaiserHealth) – Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Thursday that the state must offer the same level of subsidized insurance to legal immigrants as to citizens. The decision affects roughly 40,000 residents and could cost the state at least $150 million per year.
In 2009, state legislators in Massachusetts were facing a large budget gap and rising health care costs. After reviewing a number of choices, they opted to trim state subsidized health coverage for legal immigrants who have not been naturalized as citizens. Since the federal government doesn’t share the cost of care for this group, lawmakers reasoned, the state was justified in scaling back its commitment. Health Law Advocates sued, arguing that legal immigrants are entitled to the same health care benefits as citizens are. On Thursday, in a unanimous decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court agreed.
“It is a wonderful day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Justice has prevailed,” says Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, the executive director at Health Care for All.
Legal immigrants are also celebrating. The insurance plan the state created just for them limited where they could get care, had higher co-pays and fewer benefits. Hector Brito and his wife Cesario Reynoso ended up almost $3,000 in debt for lab tests and appointments that weren’t covered.
“This is a relief for me and everybody now,” says Brito. “They know” continues Brito, referring to other legal immigrants, “that in the future they don’t have that kind of problems. They will be covered.”
Well, maybe. Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration estimates the minimum cost of adding 40,000 people to the state’s subsidized insurance plan at $150 million a year. State tax revenues aren’t meeting expectations because of the economic downturn, so finding the money will be difficult.
The state has a several choices: It can look at new taxes or fees to fund coverage for legal immigrants. It can cut other programs. Or it can make subsidized insurance less generous for everyone. Jay Gonzalez, the state’s secretary for administration and finance, says he hopes that won’t happen, but it’s an option he can’t rule out.
“The place we’re at right now,” says Gonzalez, pausing, “is needing to weigh all those options, assess them and come to some decisions.”
Gonzalez is putting the final touches on the fiscal year 2013 budget that Patrick will file in a few weeks. It will have to include coverage for legal immigrants.
One large lingering question is: Will this decision that legal immigrants are entitled to the same health benefits as full citizens affect other government assistance programs that treat legal immigrants and citizens differently?
Gonzalez says “our lawyers are looking at this decision and what the potential impacts might be if it were applied to other places, but the direct impact is on providing health insurance. That’s the immediate challenge we have now, the one we have to face.”
It will be several months at least before these immigrants are enrolled in Commonwealth Care. The decision does not apply to illegal immigrants who are not eligible for state subsidized insurance. If the Affordable Care Act is still in place in 2014, there will be some federal assistance for coverage for legal immigrants.
– Provided by Kaiser Health News.
Union unrest spreads in 3 Midwestern states
Columbus, OH, United States (AHN) – Similar to the spread of civilian unrest in the Middle East, union protest is quickly spreading in three Midwestern U.S. states in protest over anti-union legislation.
As the protest in Wisconsin entered its second week, protests were simultaneously held Tuesday in Ohio and Indiana. The protesters, led by Democratic-leaning unions, accused the states of using fiscal problems as an excuse to weaken collective bargaining rights.
Democratic legislators in Indiana left the state to avoid casting their vote on anti-union legislation initiated by Republican governors. Republicans now control more state legislatures and governorships after the November election. Because of the strategy adopted by Indiana Democrats, only three of 40 Democrats showed up Tuesday morning for the House session, which deprived the legislature of a quorum.
Despite the Democrat boycott, the state government said it will push the bill that would ban employers from requiring employees to pay union dues, which is a standard feature of union labor contracts.
About 4,000 union members joined the Indiana protest, while thousands of labor union activists and supporters gathered in front of the Ohio state capitol building to air their sentiments against Republican-backed legislation that would restrict public workers’ collective bargaining rights.
On Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker threatened to start involuntary redundancies of state employees by next week if the legislature did not approve a bill that would remove most of the public workers’ collective bargaining rights and require higher contributions to pension and healthcare coverage.
The move seeks to save at least $300 million within the next 24 months to help reduce Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion budget gap.
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Bank Of England Governor Backs Coalition Government Budget Cuts
Manchester, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has thrown his full support to the British coalition government’s massive budget cuts. In a speech at the Trades Union Congress on Wednesday, King warned industry groups planning massive strikes to protest public sector reforms and job cuts could cripple the next generation unless changes are made now.
King said the budget cuts must be implemented to address the deficit, which has become unsustainable for Britain’s finances. The governor warned that unless the budget gap is significantly reduced in the next five years, market reaction to Britain’s increasing sovereign debt could change from a benign to a malignant wound on the country’s economic growth.
King stressed it does not make sense to place at risk policies that would could cause long-term interest rates to increase, which would make investment and mortgage costs more expensive.
Britain’s budget deficit is forecast to reach $223.5 billion (149 billion pounds) this year. It is the largest peacetime deficit in the UK’s history and the biggest in Europe by a nation as a percentage of its gross domestic product.
The governor acknowledged TUC members and businesses are entitled to be angry at Britain’s weak economy. However, he warned, “Legitimate anger will not produce change unless its energy is harnessed to a cool analysis of what happened and why.”
King admitted the next few years would be tough for Britons. “There is considerable uncertainty about the prospects for both the United States and the euro area – our most important export markets. Business and consumer confidence at home has weakened recently, and it will be some time before our banking sector is able to finance a recovery on the usual terms. The transition to a better balanced economy will be difficult,” King warned.
He said the current generation owes it to the next one to take this time to initiate reforms that will decrease the chances of another crisis or at least make it less damaging. “But the prize of restoring and maintaining economic stability – and a return to sustained rises in employment and living standards – will be worth the effort,” King promised.
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