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The Biden administration has announced a plan to expand DACA recipients’ access to Affordable Care Act and Medicaid coverage. DACA recipients would be treated more like other groups with temporary legal status under the new policy.
According to the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services will propose an amended definition of “lawful presence” to include recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“We recognize that every day counts, and we expect to get this done by the end of the month,” the White House said in a statement. The proposed rule would allow DACA recipients to apply for coverage in the health insurance marketplace and through their state Medicaid agency.
Advocacy groups commended the Biden administration for the move.
“It’s the right thing to do and reflects President Biden’s continued recognition of DACA recipients’ dignity and contributions to our nation,” Maribel Hernández Rivera, an American Civil Liberties Union deputy national political director, said in a statement.
DACA, created in 2012 by the Obama administration, allows roughly 600,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to live and work in the country. The program doesn’t lead to permanent status, and the Biden administration has called on Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients.
DACA recipients are already eligible to apply for some health services in the United States, including emergency Medicaid, which pays for emergency medical treatment for people who meet their state’s Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not meet the requirements for citizenship or immigration status.
This announcement comes as the DACA program is facing legal challenges — a federal judge has ruled that it is unlawful and has halted new applications. Existing recipients will be protected while the decision is appealed.