HONOLULU — An attorney representing Hawaii’s Micronesian migrants says he will fight a ruling that the state isn’t required to fund Medicaid for people under the Compact of Free Association.
HONOLULU — An attorney representing Hawaii’s Micronesian migrants says he will fight a ruling that the state isn’t required to fund Medicaid for people under the Compact of Free Association.
Honolulu attorney Paul Alston tells the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he’ll take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that Hawaii has no constitutional obligation to fill a gap left when Congress cut health care funding for migrants from three Pacific Island nations in Micronesia.
The compact allows Palau, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia citizens to live and work in the U.S. In the exchange, the U.S. military controls extensive land and water in the Pacific.
Alston says the ruling is wrong and could cost hospitals a lot of money.