Immigrant Advocates Fight For State-Sponsored Health Coverage

Immigrant advocacy groups are planning a large-scale effort to keep state-sponsored health coverage in place for thousands of legal immigrants in Massachusetts.

At issue is a recent legislative committee vote to cut $50 million from the the Commonwealth Care Bridge program.

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said keeping the program intact is "a matter of basic fairness."

"These are folks that are paying into our health care system, paying into our tax system, and it's a matter of basic fairness that folks who are paying into our health care system ought to be able to access it," Chang-Diaz said.

Chang-Diaz said cutting funding to the Bridge program puts greater stress on the front-line health care delivery system.