Biden Expands ObamaCare for Dreamers

The Biden administration announced Friday morning a rule that will allow certain Dreamers to access the ObamaCare marketplace.

Under the rule, active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries will be eligible to enroll in a qualified health plan or a basic health plan under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and some forms of financial assistance.

“This final rule reflects the President’s fundamental commitment to protecting Dreamers and DACA recipients. He is focused on providing them with the support they need to thrive and reach their full potential,” Neera Tanden, director of the Domestic Policy Council, told reporters on Thursday.

“This final rule also reflects the President’s belief that health care is a right and not a privilege for all Americans, which should extend to DACA recipients, just like the rest of us.”

The new rule comes after months of speculation about executive actions the Biden administration could take on immigration issues, from the potential crackdown on asylum at the border to making work permits available to certain undocumented immigrants.

Most of these potential actions are controversial on one side of the political spectrum or another, but Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors, have generally enjoyed broader public support than other undocumented groups.

Still, DACA is mired in lawsuits. Although the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to end the program, a federal judge in Texas declared the initial memo that created it illegal, and that same judge ruled in September against the Biden administration’s efforts to recodify the program as a federal regulation.

The program’s ultimate fate will likely be decided by the Supreme Court, but for now, the federal government is blocked from adding new DACA recipients.

In September, there were 544,690 registered, although the Estimates from the Migration Policy Institute that 1,161,000 people would be eligible for DACA starting in 2022.

DACA recipients had already been excluded from ObamaCare benefits, although other foreign nationals in deferred action programs were not.

Under previous Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules, DACA recipients were not “lawfully present” under the health care law. This has led to many DACA recipients, especially those without employer-provided insurance or the means to self-fund health insurance, being left out of coverage.

CMS estimates that the new rule will lead to 100,000 new eligible DACA beneficiaries enrolling in a marketplace plan or basic health program.

“Dreamers who receive DACA are currently three times more likely to be uninsured than the general U.S. population, and individuals without health insurance – I think we all know this – are less likely to receive preventive health screenings or routine,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

“They delay needed medical care and incur higher costs and deaths when they finally seek care. Therefore, making Dreamers eligible to enroll in coverage will improve their health and well-being and strengthen the health and well-being of our nation and our economy.”

The rule will take effect on November 1, when a special 60-day enrollment period will open for eligible DACA recipients. Officials planned this period to coincide with open enrollment for other ACA users to streamline the process.

The new rule does not make DACA recipients eligible for Medicaid or parts of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but they will be eligible for financial aid programs that are already available to noncitizens whose immigration status makes them ineligible for Medicaid. but who would otherwise qualify.

“The Biden-Harris administration believes that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that extends to DACA recipients who have built their lives in the United States,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a communicated.

“Today’s rule reduces barriers for DACA recipients to obtain health care coverage and is a vital step toward ensuring it is available and affordable for all Americans.”