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A group of immigrants, who have been denied Medicaid health insurance because of their immigrant status, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of New Jersey.
The lawsuit has been filed by Seton Hall Law School's Center for Social Justice on behalf of nearly 12,000 low-income New Jersey immigrants. Between April and July, the state denied Medicaid insurance to these immigrants. The reason the state gave was that these immigrants have not been residents of the state for at least five years.
The lawsuit argues that the state is discriminating against these persons based on their immigrant status. According to the lawsuit, regardless of their residency status, these people have been working in the US for years. They earn their living and pay their taxes, and are eligible for Medicaid coverage as any other New Jerseyan.
One of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit includes a young mother who underwent kidney surgery recently, and can no longer afford to buy her medications because she lost her Medicaid coverage. Another plaintiff is an Ecuadoran man who suffered an allergic reaction, and needed to be hospitalized, but couldn't pay his medical expenses.
No matter what their residency status, these persons are still lawful-permanent-resident parents, who until recently were deemed eligible to receive Medicaid coverage. In the absence of coverage, many of these persons can now no longer afford necessary medical care. They can no longer afford health checkups, preventative medicine and emergency care.
Immigration matters can be extremely complex, and even more so, during these volatile times. The New Jersey immigration lawyers at Helmer Paul Conley and Kasselman are dedicated to the representation of persons in matters relating to naturalization, asylum, Temporary Protected Status, labor certifications, employment visa and other immigration-related matters in New Jersey.
