Thread: Saving health aid for needy illegal immigrants in CA

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/stor ... 3889c.html

Saving health aid for needy
Ortiz bill affirms right of cities, counties to offer medical aid to illegal immigrants.
By Judy Lin -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, August 27, 2006
A debate over whether the state should provide health coverage to undocumented immigrants could heat up in Sacramento as an outgoing senator tries to preserve a local indigent care program.

With one week left in the legislative calendar, Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, wants to adopt language into state law that affirms city and county rights to provide health services to undocumented immigrants.

Ortiz, who is being termed out, says a bill is needed after Sacramento County was sued by a physician for allowing undocumented residents to benefit from public money.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, was dismissed earlier this year because the complainant, Gene Rogers, lacked an attorney.

The suit -- the only one of its kind known in the state -- might have exposed a legal gap that Ortiz and local officials say can threaten Sacramento County's ability to provide basic health services to as many as 17,000 undocumented immigrants.

"I'm not going to tell counties what services they should provide," Ortiz said, "but if they exercise that discretion -- whether it's for children or non-emergency care for adults -- they ought not to be sued for it."

The Latino Legislative Caucus last week sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urging his support. Ortiz's bill, Senate Bill 1534, could be taken up in committee Monday.

Even if the Legislature acts, the bill is unlikely to receive the governor's support. The Republican leader has been criticized by conservatives for supporting health coverage for all children when he allocated $23 million in state funding for the cause.

Since federal welfare laws were reformed in 1996, states have been able to decide whether to provide subsidized health care for undocumented immigrants -- so long as the state passed a law authorizing them to do so.

Texas has done just that -- passing laws in 1997 and 2003 allowing use of local funds for undocumented residents, Ortiz said.

Debate remains about how much legal coverage current state language provides to counties, though counties that choose to provide health services to undocumented residents have largely done so without legal challenge.

That was until Rogers' complaint appeared in Sacramento County in 2004.

Rogers, who works for the county's Health and Human Services Department, objected to the county treating undocumented residents through its medically indigent services program, a program of last resort for people who can't afford health insurance or don't qualify for government health care programs.

An appeal of the U.S. District Court's dismissal of the Rogers' suit is pending, and county administrators say they are worried. The suit was dismissed on a technicality, and the court did not rule on its merits.

"The lawsuit isn't dead," said Bob Ryan, the county's chief attorney.

Ryan said the suit could be brought back. To protect the county, Ortiz said attorneys have advised that a law should be adopted to prevent future suits.

"We all have agreed … that the law is unclear, and the way to settle the law is to get statutory protection for counties," Ortiz said.

Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said the county's priority is to maintain public health, not monitor people's legal status.

He said he supports Ortiz's bill because counties should be able to provide basic health services such as flu shots and prescriptions to people who can't afford insurance.

"It frankly seems inhumane, from my point of view, to put children in that position," he said.

"The county is not the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Service."

County administrators had scheduled a public hearing this month to consider the possibility of eliminating services to 14,000 to 17,000 illegal immigrants who use the county's primary care facility.

But the hearing was postponed, and no new date has been scheduled, said Penelope Clarke, administrator of the Countywide Services Agency.

Clarke said county administrators are studying how to continue providing service to all residents. The Board of Supervisors has not taken official action on the issue.

The county remains most concerned about treating people at the Primary Care Center at Stockton Boulevard and Broadway, but Clarke warned that the threat of lawsuits could affect other welfare programs.


BACKGROUND
Since federal welfare laws were reformed in 1996, states have been able to decide whether to provide subsidized health care for undocumented immigrants - so long as the states passed a law authorizing them to do so. Texas did that in 1997 and 2003, allowing use of local funds for undocumented residents.

About the writer:
The Bee's Judy Lin can be reached at (916) 321-1115 or jlin@sacbee.com.

i say we find that doctor and get him an attorney and reopen this case.

Agreed--find the doctor, so the case can be reopened.

Any new bill for free county provided medical services for illegals,
should be a fleet of buses, with a doctor on board--available for any illegal to board--free medical care--while bus is traveling to Tijuana--where illegals can then get medical care from Mexico.

In this article they use the term "undocumented" ten times and the word "illegal" once.

Which side do you think they support?