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Judge blocks health insurance access for DACA recipients in 19 states, D.C.

December 10, 2024
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A federal judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction and stay against a Biden administration final rule allowing more than 100,000 noncitizen Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to apply for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The stay applies to 19 states and the District of Columbia, all of which filed a motion in North Dakota in response to the rule changes announced in May.

Under the final rule, DACA recipients who are uninsured and who file a federal tax return can shop for health insurance plans at healthcare.gov or their state’s insurance marketplace before the open enrollment period ends Jan. 15.

The rule expands the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) definition of “lawfully present” immigrants to allow more people to enroll. Monday’s ruling said, “CMS acted contrary to law.”

“Congress has declared the nation has a ‘compelling interest’ in ‘remov[ing] the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits,’” wrote U.S. District Judge Daniel M. Traynor. “To not suspend the Final Rule would empower CMS to harm the compelling interest established by Congress.”

The DACA policy defers deportation action against qualifying young people who were brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization. More than one-third of DACA recipients are without health insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sural Shah, M.D., FAAP, chair-elect of the AAP Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health, said in November the expansion was “long overdue.”

“The expansion of subsidized ACA marketplace coverage to DACA recipients is transformative for our children and families,” Dr. Shah said. “For too long, people with DACA across the country have been excluded from coverage provided through the ACA solely because of their immigration status.”

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