Mahalo nui to all that helped with our campaign push at the eve of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on Korab v. McManaman (also here).  We have over 800 signatures (and growing) in support of our cause!  The Ninth Circuit panel of Judge Bybee, Judge McKeown, and Hawai'i's own Judge Clifton will now have to consider the merits of both sides, and may issue their decision at any time.  For hints of their potential positions, you can listen to or download a recording of their questions (and the parties' responses) at our resources page here.

No matter how the judges decide, the future of health justice in Hawai'i nei may depend on the willingness of people to speak out and act when they encounter situations so contrary to our understanding of justice, humanity, and aloha.  Many thanks and congratulations should go to all the energetic volunteers, young and old alike, near and far, who contributed to our rally on Monday to raise awareness about Basic Health Hawai'i and the Korab v. McManaman appeal.  The rally covered both the lunch and pau hana (after work) traffic shifts and our numerous enthusiastic sign-wavers elicited many honks of support from passing cars!  

Mahalo nui also to the media correspondents who took the time to take note of the oral arguments now brewing in the Ninth Circuit (including Disappeared News, Hawai'i Free Press, Nuclear News, The Fourth Branch, and Civil Beat).  

Please see below for pictures from our rally, courtesy of D.S., B.E., B.S., and J.P. -- stay tuned for more.  

Mahalo piha!

The Ninth Circuit has postponed oral arguments for Korab v. McManaman, a state of Hawai'i appeal seeking to legalize lowered health care opportunities for Compact of Free Association residents.  

New oral arguments have been tentatively set for September 18, 2012.  Oral arguments had been previously scheduled for June 18, 2012.  

Korab v. McManaman is a state appeal seeking to overturn a federal court temporary injunction against Basic Health Hawai'i, a state healthcare program that substantially diminishes government-funded health care services for resident citizens of the Freely Associated States.  Under the program, other legal immigrants are provided equal health care services as U.S. citizens after a five-year period; however, Compact of Free Association residents -- who are allowed to live, work, and seek educational opportunities  in the United States per long-standing agreements between their home countries and the U.S. -- are never eligible for such services.   Previous state law provided equal services for legal immigrants, Compact of Free Association residents, and U.S. citizen residents of Hawai'i.

To justify its case, the state of Hawai'i has cited a 1996 federal law that cut all federal funding for health care and other benefits for legal immigrant residents of less than 5 years, and for Compact of Free Association citizens permanently.  Since that time, and until Basic Health Hawai'i was implemented, the state of Hawai'i continued to treat all of its residents equally with respect to their basic health care safety net needs.

The diminished health care opportunities under Basic Health Hawai'i have raised particular concerns  for Compact of Free Association residents, due to high incidences of radiogenic diseases associated with U.S. nuclear testing within the Freely Associated States, as well as dietary diseases related to U.S. administration and de facto control over infrastructure and land use decisions in the covered countries.  During the months in which Basic Health Hawai'i was in effect, over 27 deaths were cited as   a result of inadequate coverage for Compact of Free Association residents.

Oral arguments for Korab v. McManaman (appealing the district court's injunction against health care discrimination) have been rescheduled to June 18, 2012 in Pasadena, California.

For more information on actions surrounding this event, please e-mail restoringjusticehi@gmail.com