The Biden administration is expanding government-funded health care coverage to certain immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
The White House on Thursday said it was expanding eligibility for the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchange to participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
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The migrants, also known as "Dreamers" were brought to the U.S. as children by immigrant parents. Dreamers will now be allowed to enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance -- also known as Obamacare.
"Dreamers are our loved ones, our nurses, teachers, and small business owners. And they deserve the promise of health care just like all of us," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "And that's why today we are taking this historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors."
The Obama-era DACA program, which began in 2012, protects more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. Immigrants in the program are allowed to work legally in the country and they pay taxes. Although they have a lawfully present immigration status, they were previously not considered qualified immigrants for the purposes of health coverage and were not eligible for government-subsidized health insurance.
The rule amends the definition of "lawful presence" for purposes of Affordable Care Act coverage to include DACA recipients, making them eligible for the programs for the very first time. Under the rule, Dreamers will be able to apply for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, which allow users to shop for plans from different insurance companies.
About 100,000 people are expected to sign up for coverage when marketplace enrollment opens on November 1.
The rule is a scaled down version of President Biden's initial proposal from 2023, which would have allowed Dreamers to sign up for Medicaid.
Allowing DACA immigrants the opportunity to purchase government-funded health care brings the group in line with other classes of immigrants, including asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, who are already eligible to gain insurance through ACA marketplaces, The Associated Press previously reported.
The DACA initiative has faced legal challenges since its creation. A federal judge in 2021 declared the program unlawful and blocked new applications from being processed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Those already admitted to the program are allowed to continue to receive protections while the case remains in court.
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