The Biden administration will expand health care coverage for immigrants under DACA | expand 1340 KGFW

(WASHINGTON) – The Biden administration has finalized plans to expand government-subsidized health insurance for people brought to the country illegally as children but protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program .

Immigrants with DACA status receive protection from deportation, but were previously barred from receiving health care coverage made available by the Affordable Care Act.

But now an estimated 100,000 previously uninsured DACA holders can sign up for coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, fulfilling a promise the White House made last year.

“Dreamers are our neighbors and friends; They are students, teachers, social workers, doctors and nurses. More importantly, they are fellow Americans,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Thursday, referring to the common nickname for DACA holders.

“More than a third of DACA recipients currently lack health insurance, so qualifying for coverage will improve their health and well-being and help the overall economy,” Becerra said.

DACA holders are currently three times more likely to be uninsured and those who are uninsured are generally less likely to seek preventive care, Becerra said.

The new policy will come into effect in November. Family income and the ability to get health coverage from an employer will be factors in eligibility for coverage, an administration official said.

“This final rule also reflects the President’s belief that health care is a right, not a privilege, for all Americans, and that it should extend to DACA recipients just like the rest of us,” said Neera Tanden, a domestic policy adviser at the White House, to reporters. “This groundbreaking final rule makes DACA recipients eligible for Affordable Care Act coverage for the first time.”

The Obama-era DACA program, which dates to 2012, is controversial among conservatives and has long been embroiled in legal battles. The Biden administration is trying to shield the country from further legal scrutiny by codifying it into regulatory policy – ​​an ongoing process.

The Biden administration has also faced criticism from some advocates and Democrats for abandoning a possible path to citizenship for DACA holders as part of the bipartisan Senate negotiations on immigration earlier this year.

Democrats continue to blame Republicans for rejecting that deal, despite longstanding objections from many in the Republican Party to a citizenship path for migrants already living in the country after entering illegally.

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