2300 California Dreamers are about to lose medical coverage

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Less than a year after ‘Dreamers’ were allowed for the first time to register In the covered health insurance in California, the undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States. When they were children, they were about to lose their medical coverage.

In California, this means that about 2,300 dreamers need to look for medical insurance elsewhere or exhaust after their coverage ends at the end of the month. The decision was made by Medicare and Medicaid (CDS) service centers, the agency that controls insurance markets.

Last year, the Biden administration updated the definition of “legally present” for the ACA Act Act (ACA), so that the beneficiaries of the Deferred Aths Action Program (DACA), also known as Dreamers, can acquire insurance through state and federal markets. The Trump administration canceled this decision in June and set the entry into force of the change two months later.

The order is “intended to stabilize the risk group, to reduce premiums and to reduce unjustified inscriptions in order to improve accessibility and access to medical care while maintaining fiscal responsibility”, “” The agency said in a statement Declare of changes in the market.

Last week, the covered California announced that it was working to notify all DACA beneficiaries that his last coverage day would be on August 31 and would help them explore other insurance options.

After its inception, the Law on Associated Medical Care prohibits immigrants who are illegally residing in the country to acquire medical coverage on the medical insurance market. DACA beneficiaries who are allowed to remain legitimately in the United States thanks to the 2012 program have become an exception.

“I expected a different result”

“This decision is deeply unfair to the California workers and taxpayers who have trusted medical insurance until 2025, just to take it eight months later,” said Jessica Altman, CEO of Cocte Califormition. “Although we were expecting a different result for DACA beneficiaries, we must observe the federal law.”

Without the insurance market, dreamers will have to look for coverage through an employer or, if their income is low enough, they could qualify for Medi-Cal, State Medical Insurance Program for Low Income People S This leaves some dreamers F in a difficult situation if they earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, but not enough to pay the full health plan.

The benefit of registration in insurance through California is to gain access to financial assistance. It is estimated that expansion of DACA beneficiaries across the country would cost the federal government among $ 240 and $ 300 million a year S

Market effect

While the Federal Government stated that cuts aim to stabilize the group of insurance risks and help reduce premiums, experts say removing the coverage for young people (most dreamers have Less than 36 years ) I would do the opposite.

This is because when the younger and healthy people enroll in insurance, their low coverage helps to balance the high costs of covering persons who are suffering and adult, said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, a professor at the UCLA Fielding Public Health School.

So, at least young people register in coverage, premiums tend to rise for everyone. “So, sick people who really need coverage pay the price,” said Vargas Bustamante.

The DACA program, in force for 13 years, does not provide legal status to its beneficiaries, but protects them from deportation and gives them permission to work. It is estimated that over 150,000 DACA beneficiaries live in California.

President Joe Biden’s decision to guarantee DACA beneficiaries through insurance markets immediately faced the resistance of the Republican countries. Last summer group of 19 Republican General Prosecutors filed a claim in a federal court To try to stop the expansion of the DACA beneficiary insurance market. Dakota del Norte’s federal judge failed in favor of the plaintiffs and prevented the rule from entering these 19 states. The new standard of Medicare and Medicaid service centers applies to all countries.

DACA beneficiaries are the first group of a large number of immigrants to lose or abandon the insurance market coverage. He Federal Budget that President Donald Trump approved last month It eliminates financial assistance from the market of some groups of legally present immigrants, such as refugees and asy, since 2027. Without financial assistance, many of these beneficiaries may not be able to pay their coverage.

Meanwhile, all others registered in a covered California plan can see their Monthly creams are increasing with $ 101 a month from next year.