Legal Aid Sues to Save Health Plan : Courts: Group seeks injunction to stop next Tuesday’s shutting down of public indigent medical program.

The San Diego County Legal Aid Society filed suit Monday to stop the county from shutting down the public indigent health care program next Tuesday.

The suit was filed on behalf of 16 county residents, representing the more than 20,000 residents who could be without medical treatment should the county Board of Supervisors go ahead with a decision to shut down care as a result of its dispute over funding with the state.

The class action suit in Superior Court asks that a temporary restraining order be issued to prevent demise of the County Medical Services program in anticipation of a lengthy legal debate over whether the county has the right to terminate CMS.

If a temporary restraining order is issued Wednesday, the program would remain at current levels until attorneys for the legal aid society and the county debate a request for a preliminary injunction, which would ordinarily follow in about two weeks. Such an injunction serves as a more indefinite restraint on limiting or eliminating medical services in advance of a full trial.

“Unless this court acts, thousands of low-income persons with serious diseases and injuries will suffer great and irreparable harm,” the legal aid society said in its filing. “They will abruptly lose their only access to health care which is medically necessary to protect their lives and/or prevent significant disability.”

The suit alleges that the county is attempting eliminate the “last resort safety net” medical care for these people in violation of several state health regulations that mandate certain health care levels for indigent residents.

County lawyers could not be reached late Monday for comment as to whether they will oppose the request for a temporary restraining order or whether they will, as has been speculated, file their own suit against the state of California over the funding dispute.

County supervisors have said they regret the action they took last week to terminate the program but have argued that the state mandates the indigent health care without providing sufficient funding to keep the program running. They say they need $16 million from the state immediately to avoid the cutoff.

Last week, state officials offered to approve $12.9 million for San Diego, but $9 million of that would be a loan. County administrators rejected the offer because the county would only be able to pay the loan back should it be able to collect money from area school districts under a controversial new law that also is headed for a legal battle.