WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration plans to allow more immigrants illegally brought to the United States as children to access health insurance under Medicaid and Affordable Care Act exchanges, four sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on Thursday.
The proposed expanded access for those participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, is expected to take months or longer to finalize through the federal regulatory process, one of the sources said.
Representatives for the White House declined to comment on the plan, which was first reported by the Associated Press. The move is expected to be announced later on Thursday, the news outlet added.
The planned insurance expansion comes as efforts to further protect the so-called “Dreamer” immigrants stalls in Congress and faces ongoing legal challenges. About 580,000 people were enrolled as of last year in the Obama-era 2012 DACA program, which grants protection from deportation and work permits.
It would allow DACA recipients to seek health coverage under the joint federal-state Medicaid program or private insurers participating in the exchanges established by the 2010 ACA law also passed under Democratic then-U.S. President Barack Obama and Biden, then vice president.
Eight U.S. states have already expanded state insurance access to health coverage regardless of immigration status, according to data from the healthcare policy organization Kaiser Family Foundation.
Biden, who this week said he plans to see a second four-year term but has not formally announced his reelection bid, had promised during his 2020 presidential campaign to protect “Dreamers” and their families after Republican then-President Donald Trump tried to end DACA.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson and Trevor Hunnicutt; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
