Montgomery Co. Circuit Court Judge Durke Thompson ruled this morning that all 13 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State asking for the restoration of health care benefits—including five who were added to the case after it was initially filed—have standing to seek preliminary relief.

The plaintiffs lost their benefits after $7 million was cut from the budget last July. The cuts affected about 4,000 legal immigrants who are legally in the country but have lived in the U.S. less than five years.

While the judge declined to order specific relief for two of the plaintiffs—a six-year-old girl with asthma and her one-year-old sister with breathing problems and a heart condition—he recognized the “conundrum” faced by the plaintiffs’ parents, who are unable to prove a medical condition because of the lack of medical care. Thompson “strongly” urged the State to address their serious medical needs.

Thompson also left the door open for the girls to seek further relief if their health care needs aren’t met. “Some of these kids are pretty doggone sick,” Thompson noted from the bench. “I strongly hope the State addresses the serious needs of [the sisters] and stays alert to the needs of the other plaintiffs.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs were pleased with the outcome of today’s hearing.

 “The State is finally listening,” said Douglas M. Bregman, of Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, LLC in Bethesda, a pro bono attorney representing the children. “We’ve got their attention and we’re pushing the State to the outer limits of cooperation.

“The judge gave all of our plaintiffs standing and he’s ready to hear from them all,” Bregman continued. “And he wants to hear from us if they don’t get health care. It seems like they’ve now got case workers on it 24 hours a day.”

Added Regan Bailey, a Legal Aid attorney also representing the children: “We’ve been unbelievably successful in getting care for some of the chronic conditions our plaintiffs suffer from. But they need the same comprehensive health care that all children need to identify and promptly address potentially serious health conditions before they cause significant and irreparable harm.”

  In February, the Court of Special Appeals, while upholding stays on an injunction restoring healthcare to legal immigrant children, put in place a mechanism for plaintiff children at “serious risk” and needing “particularized medical treatment” to seek heath benefits at the circuit court level as the case moves forward. 

Today’s hearing asked the State to restore benefits to two of the plaintiffs. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals took the case and has scheduled oral arguments in late May or early June.

The Legal Aid Bureau, established in 1911, is Maryland's only statewide program providing a full range of free civil legal services to low-income people.

Bethesda-based Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, LLC was established in 1979. Senior partner Douglas Bregman is a former president of the Montgomery Co. Bar Assoc. and sits on the board of directors of the Maryland Legal Services Corp.