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Friday, November 22, 2024

Attorneys general defend health coverage expansion for DACA recipients

State AG
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul | Facebook Website

Attorney General Kwame Raoul, alongside a coalition of 18 attorneys general, has taken action to support a federal initiative aimed at expanding health insurance access for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The group filed an amicus brief backing a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) rule that would allow DACA recipients to purchase health insurance through Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges. This rule is set to be implemented on November 1, 2024.

DACA, established in 2012, offers certain young individuals—often referred to as Dreamers—who arrived in the United States as children and have resided continuously since 2007, protection from deportation for renewable two-year periods. As of September 2023, Illinois was home to over 28,000 DACA recipients.

A lawsuit by several states against HHS and CMS in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota seeks to delay this rule's implementation pending judicial review. In response, Raoul stated: “Every day, Dreamers make invaluable contributions to our schools, workplaces and communities.” He emphasized that allowing them access to ACA marketplace insurance would enhance their health outcomes and public health overall.

DACA recipients are currently three times more likely than the general U.S. population to be uninsured, according to HHS data. Although Congress has extended ACA exchange access to all "lawfully present" individuals—a category including those temporarily allowed by DHS—DACA recipients previously lacked such access.

Uninsured populations tend to drive up healthcare costs while negatively impacting public health through increased premature deaths and medical debt among other issues. States with their own exchanges could see benefits from including DACA recipients due to potentially larger risk pools keeping premiums lower.

Raoul argues that basic fairness principles necessitate denying requests for delaying the rule's implementation or at least limiting any relief narrowly. The brief highlights that most DACA recipients do not reside in states opposing the HHS rule; two-thirds live in states not challenging it.

In addition to filing this brief, Raoul and many participating attorneys general signed a supportive comment letter addressed to HHS regarding this rule last year. Joining him are attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

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