Judge rejects suit on immigrants' health care in LA County

TIM MOLLOY

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force Los Angeles County to collect legal immigrants' health care costs from their immigration sponsors.

The lawsuit, sponsored by the Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement in Washington, asserted that Los Angeles County was violating federal law by not collecting from the sponsors. The group estimates that as a result, taxpayers are being to forced to foot as much as $20 million a year in unpaid bills.

The county says the costs are much lower. And like many local governments across the country, the county concluded years ago that the costs of tracking down sponsors would exceed the amount of money recouped.

The two sides disputed Superior Court Judge David Yaffe's reasons for dismissing the suit. The county's lead counsel in the case, Sharon Reichman, said the judge found that the county had no legal obligation to inquire about an immigrant patient's sponsorship status or to seek reimbursement from the sponsor.

But Hal Netkin, a county resident who was one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said it was dismissed because the plaintiffs' attorney did not come to court. State law lets California residents sue the government if they believe their tax dollars are misappropriated.

The judge also rejected the plaintiffs' request to delay the case because of a change in counsel. Netkin said plaintiffs would attempt to re-file the suit.

The plaintiffs' attorney, James Bame, has asked to leave the case because of a family medical problem, said Craig Nelsen, director of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement, which sponsored the suit.

Bame did not return a call for comment.

Under a 1996 federal law, many would-be immigrants must find sponsors - usually family members - who sign an "affidavit of support" promising to pay for any public services received by the immigrant if the immigrant cannot pay. The law was intended to prevent immigrants from moving to the United States only to go on welfare.

About 75 percent of legal immigrants admitted to this country since 1996 were sponsored, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute. Immigrants can also become legal permanent residents if a U.S. employer petitions for them or if they are refugees.

Immigration advocates say the real purpose of the lawsuit was to identify illegal immigrants. By requiring legal immigrants to name their sponsors, hospitals would also learn the immigration status of people in the United States illegally.

Pro-immigrant groups said the lawsuit could discourage legal immigrants from seeking preventive health care, for fear that their sponsors would have to pay. They said that could cost the county more in the long run because the immigrants would eventually seek emergency room services, which cannot be refused to anyone and cannot be billed to sponsors under federal law.

The county, which treats 600,000 uninsured patients annually, faces a shortfall of $265.1 million by fiscal year 2006-07 and has been forced to close hospitals and consolidate services. The plaintiffs argue that immigrants contributed to the crisis.