Starting August 25, more than 11,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program across the United States will lose access to affordable healthcare. This follows a change in Trump administration regulations that eliminates their eligibility for insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace and Basic Health Programs (BHP). This measure affects thousands of so-called dreamers — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children — and represents a setback in the Biden era’s efforts to expand health coverage.
In California alone, about 2,300 dreamers enrolled in Covered California plans will be dropped at the end of August. Similarly, approximately 500 DACA recipients in New Jersey will lose their plans through the state’s Get Covered NJ marketplace. Oregon and Minnesota will also see about 1,000 dreamers excluded from their respective BHP coverage programs. Nationwide, the total number of people affected is expected to reach 11,000.
The rule, approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in June, revokes a 2023 Biden administration regulation that classified DACA recipients as “lawfully present,” a designation that temporarily allowed them to purchase ACA marketplace insurance with financial assistance. Without that classification, DACA recipients are once again barred from accessing federally subsidized health insurance.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) claims that the change is intended to stabilize the risk pool, reduce premiums, and decrease improper enrollments, and says the decision is being made to protect the financial sustainability of the healthcare system; however, health policy experts argue the opposite; removing younger, healthier members from the insurance pool will likely increase premiums for everyone.
