State Immigrant Aid Curbs Blocked

In yet another blow to Gov. Pete Wilson’s efforts to restrict health benefits for noncitizens, a state appeals court has blocked California from cutting off subsidized emergency care and prenatal services to thousands of immigrants--both legal and illegal--who entered the country with short-term visas.

A three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal ruled that the state did not follow proper procedures when officials moved in early 1997 to strip many noncitizens of coverage under Medi-Cal, the federal-state health insurance plan for the poor.

Immigrant advocates say that the cutoff resulted in the affected immigrants losing Medi-Cal coverage, although it was unclear how many were impacted.

In general, illegal immigrants are ineligible for most Medi-Cal benefits, but many have been able to obtain prenatal and emergency services under Medi-Cal. Most legal immigrant noncitizens are eligible for Medi-Cal if they can demonstrate full-time residency in California.

The Wilson administration issued a letter in February 1997 barring Medi-Cal emergency and prenatal care for immigrants who entered the United States with visas that were good for less than one year. The letter was sent to county officials, who administer the Medi-Cal program.

Losing Medi-Cal eligibility under the terms of the letter were thousands of legal immigrants who arrived with tourist, employment and other temporary visas. Also affected were multitudes of illegal immigrants who had violated the terms of their Border Crossing Cards--federal documents that allow short visits to residents of Mexico and Canada--and moved here permanently.

Attorneys representing immigrants argued that the Wilson administration’s move illegally sidestepped public review. By changing guidelines via a letter, state officials bypassed the requirements for public notice and comment that would accompany a formal regulatory change.

Challenging Wilson’s policy in court was the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, a group that seeks to improve health care for Latinos. But a Superior Court judge in San Francisco threw out the lawsuit.

In its ruling this week, the appeals panel reversed the Superior Court decision. The appeals judges concluded that the letter amounted to a regulation, requiring public comment.

Advocates for the poor call the governor’s plan unethical and say it violates state and federal laws guaranteeing subsidized emergency care even for illegal immigrants.

“This was clearly another mean-spirited policy from the Wilson administration to deny human beings vital health care based on immigration status,” said John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, the nonprofit legal group that filed the suit.

Ron Low, a Wilson spokesman, said state lawyers were reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment on whether the state would appeal. The governor has repeatedly called free health care a “magnet” for illegal immigrants.

In June, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien barred the governor from denying prenatal care to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants until a trial can be held on the issue. Illegal immigrants with Border Crossing Cards--those affected by this week’s separate ruling--represent a minority of the overall undocumented population.

O’Brien ruled that making illegal immigrants ineligible for subsidized prenatal care probably would violate federal safeguards against the spread of contagious diseases, including AIDS. Communicable ailments are often discovered and treated during prenatal examinations.