Global Courant 2023-04-13 20:15:11
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that his administration plans to expand health care coverage to young adults without legal status who have been in the U.S. since they were children and work or study under the DACA program.
Under Biden’s plan, DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, would be able to enroll in a health plan through the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid.
“Today’s announcement is about giving DACA recipients the same opportunity,” Biden said in a video statement posted on Twitter. “We will continue to do what we can to protect Dreamers.”
DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, was implemented in 2012 as an executive order under President Barack Obama and allowed eligible undocumented young adults coming to the US to work and study without fear of deportation.
The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to propose a rule that expands the definition of “lawful presence” to DACA recipients, for purposes of Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage, the White House said.
The Biden administration expects to get this done by the end of April.
If completed, it would mark DACA recipients’ first eligibility for these healthcare programs.
DACA recipients could apply for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, where they can qualify for income-based financial aid, and through their state agency Medicaid, according to the White House.
Over 600,000 DACA receivers live in the US An overwhelming majority were born in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
United We Dream, the country’s largest immigrant-led youth organization, celebrated the announcement as a “major victory”.
“Having good, reliable health care is a human need, and this rule change will mean that more people will have the life-saving health care they need to care for themselves and their families,” said Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, deputy director of federal advocacy. at United We Dream, said in a statement.
A 2021 questionnaire of the National Immigration Law Center found that 34% of DACA recipients surveyed were living without any form of health insurance, compared to 10% of the general population.
“We all contribute to the health care programs, so it was unconscionable that DACA recipients were not eligible for ACA, Medicaid and other government subsidized health care,” said Macedo do Nascimento.
Groups like United We Dream and lawmakers like Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., have called on the Biden administration to implement this rule.
“I am pleased to see the Biden administration respond to our calls to take this important step,” Cortez Masto, the first and only Latina senator, said in a statement. “DACA receivers are an essential part of our community.”
Sally Bronston contributed.
