Constitutional Law
Mass. Top Court Rules Legal Immigrants Improperly Barred from Subsidized Insurance Program
The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that a law barring legal immigrants from a subsidized insurance program violated their rights to equal protection under the state constitution.
The opinion by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court could cost the state up to $150 million, report the Boston Globe, the Associated Press and the Boston Herald.
The subsidized insurance program was created in 2006 under a state law that required most residents to have health coverage, the Globe says. Low-income residents were eligible for the subsidized program. But under a 2009 law, legal immigrants who qualified were funneled into a different program that cost more, covered less and restricted health care providers.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
