Washington — About 100,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children are expected to enroll in Affordable Care Act health insurance next year, under a new directive released Friday by the Biden administration .
Finalizing this decision took longer than expected and fell short of President Biden’s expectations. initial proposal to allow these migrants to enroll in Medicaidthe health insurance program that provides almost free coverage to the nation’s poorest people.
But it will allow thousands of migrants to access lucrative tax breaks when they sign up for coverage after enrollment opens in the Affordable Care Act marketplace on Nov. 1, just days before the presidential election .
While it could help the president boost his appeal at a crucial time among Latinos, a crucial voting bloc he needs to win the election, the move is sure to draw more criticism among conservatives over the president’s action . border and migration policies.
The action opens the market to all participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, many of whom are Latino.
Xavier Becerra, the nation’s top health official, said Thursday that many of these migrants have delayed getting care because they don’t have coverage.
“They incur higher costs and debt when they finally receive care,” Becerra told reporters on a call. “Making Dreamers eligible for coverage will improve their health and well-being and strengthen the health and well-being of our nation and economy.”
The administration’s action changes the definition of “lawfully present” so that DACA participants can legally enroll in the exchange.
Then-President Barack Obama launched the DACA initiative to protect immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation and to allow them to work legally in the country. However, immigrants, also known as “Dreamers,” were still ineligible for government-subsidized health insurance programs because they did not meet the states’ definition of “lawful presence.” -United.
The administration decided not to expand Medicaid eligibility for these migrants after receiving more than 20,000 comments on the proposal, senior officials said Thursday. Those officials declined to explain why the rule, first proposed last April, took so long to be finalized. This delay has prevented migrants from registering on the marketplace for coverage this year.
More than 800,000 migrants will be able to sign up for marketplace coverage, but the administration projects that only 100,000 will actually sign up because some can get coverage through their workplace or other means. Some may also not be able to afford coverage on the market.
Other categories of immigrants, including asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, can already purchase insurance through the marketplaces of the ACA, Obama’s 2010 health care law, often called “Obamacare”.
DACA itself is underway challenged in federal court by Republican-led states.
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