California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general to support a Biden Administration rule aimed at expanding healthcare access for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, also known as Dreamers. This rule will allow Dreamers to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace, providing them with subsidized health coverage through California's healthcare exchange, Covered California. The UC Berkeley Labor Center estimates that approximately 40,000 uninsured Dreamers in California could benefit from this change.
The rule is scheduled to take effect on November 1, 2024, but faces opposition from Kansas and 18 other states. "Dreamers pay billions of dollars in taxes each year to help fund programs like the Affordable Care Act. Yet until now, they’ve been unable to access these programs themselves," stated Attorney General Bonta. He emphasized California's commitment to supporting Dreamers' right to affordable healthcare.
Dreamers are individuals who arrived in the United States as children and have since established their lives here. They contribute significantly to federal, state, and local taxes. In California alone, nearly 30% of Dreamers reside and collectively pay over $2.1 billion in federal taxes and $1 billion in state and local taxes annually.
Attorney General Bonta had previously supported the proposed rule alongside a multistate coalition. He now urges the district court to reject the Kansas-led coalition's request for a preliminary injunction that would delay or block the rule's implementation. At minimum, he seeks permission for the rule to proceed in states like California that do not oppose it.
In filing the brief defending this expansion of healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Bonta is joined by his counterparts from New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
A copy of the brief is available online.