State appeals injunction preserving benefits for Micronesians

Governor Neil Abercrombie has appealed a federal court injunction prohibiting the state from implementing two attempts by former Governor Linda Lingle’s administration to restrict critical health services for new immigrant residents of Hawaii and residents present under the United States’ Compact of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau.

The State has appealed the injunctions to the 9th Circuit where the case currently waits for panel selection and a hearing.

The Hawaii nonprofit Lawyers for Equal Justice, working in partnership with pro bono partners Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing and Bronster & Hoshibata, successfully stopped the Lingle administration from implementing its Basic Hawaii Health plan, which would significantly reduce health care for new immigrants and Hawaii residents from Compact of Free Association countries.

LEJ, now known as the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Equal Justice, believes the decision to selectively single out certain minority groups for disparate access to critical medical services is unconstitutional, as it discriminates based on national origin and alienage in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The organization brought a federal class action law suit in September 2009 on behalf of COFA residents arguing that the Basic Health Hawaii program violated their due process rights by failing to provide adequate notice of the change and their equal protection rights by basing the state’s action on the alienage of COFA residents.

LEJ filed a second class action lawsuit against the Department of Human Services arguing that Basic Health Hawaii would force individuals with disabilities to seek institutionalized treatment, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit sought immediate injunctive relief and restoration of these critical services.

On both occasions, Federal District Court Judge Michael Seabright issued injunctions preserving current health care coverage based on the state’s violation of U.S. Constitutional protections of due process and equal protection. Click here to read more