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ACS CAN Comments on DACA proposed rule

June 23, 2023

Access to care for those who are uninsured not only ensures that serious diseases like cancer can be detected and treated earlier but also often means better patient outcomes and less costs to the individual and the larger health care system. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded health insurance coverage to millions of Americans. However, despite these coverage gains, thirteen years after the law was enacted approximately 31 million people in the United States remain uninsured with data showing that noncitizens are more likely to be uninsured. In 2021, 25% of lawfully present individuals and 46% of undocumented immigrants were uninsured, compared to only 8 percent of U.S. citizens.[1]

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are nearly three times as likely to be uninsured than the general U.S. population.[2] This proposed rule would reduce barriers to healthcare by removing the current provision that treats DACA recipients differently from other individuals with deferred action who are otherwise  eligible for coverage for certain federal programs. ACS CAN supports this rule that would expand federal insurance coverage eligibility and help reverse the healthcare disparities that hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients have experienced for over a decade. We urge HHS to finalize the rule as proposed prior to the commencement of the 2024 open enrollment period.

 

[1] Kaiser Family Foundation. Health coverage of immigrants. Dec. 19, 2022. Available at https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/.

[2] National Immigration Law Center. DACA Recipients’ Access to Health Care: 2023 Report. May 2023. Available at https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NILC_DACA-Report_2023.pdf.

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