PRESS STATEMENT: Patrick Tries to Resuscitate Immigrant Health Care

With State House approval plan would save "Bridge" for 6 months

BOSTON -- This afternoon Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick held a press conference to discuss his signature of the Massachusetts state budget for fiscal 2011, which begins tomorrow. Barring the increasingly unlikely approval of FMAP funding, this budget would eliminate health care funding for nearly 30,000 legal, tax-paying Massachusetts immigrants at the end of August. In response, Governor Patrick also announced he was filing an amendment letter with the legislature, asking for their permission to allow Bridge to continue operating if funds can be found. Through some creative cost savings and the allocation of excess cigarette tax revenues, the governor then calculates that the program could continue for at least six months, or until the end of December. "We at MIRA join all the other groups in the ACT Coalition to commend Governor Patrick for his speedy and creative response to this crisis," said Nicole Tambouret, State Policy Director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)."The governor has come up with the plan and the funds; now the legislature needs to act quickly to pass the proposed bill, which will give tens of thousands of hard-working, tax paying immigrants a chance to breathe easier as we all work to craft a permanent solution to this crisis." The Bridge program was created last year as a temporary, low-cost solution to the plight of these 30,000 Massachusetts immigrants, comprised largely of those who've received their Permanent Legal Residency status ("green cards") less than five years ago. Last June, the State House barred this class of immigrants from the Commonwealth Care program, citing federal law which prohibits the group from receiving reimbursement for Medicaid funding. The crisis led the governor to work with the legislature to devise Commonwealth Care Bridge, which began enrolling immigrants at the end of last summer.  "The governor and his administration seem to agree with immigrants and their allies that the Bridge program is not a permanent solution to the plight of these immigrants," Tambouret continued."But we all need the legislature to approve his plan to continue the program through the summer and fall. Not only will it provide six extra months of essential coverage, it also allows us all time to find a way to extend the program until that day when every Massachusetts resident can receive the quality, affordable health care they deserve, no matter where they're from."