DACA recipients will lose their health insurance this month: What you need to know

Starting August 25, more than 11,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program across the United States will lose access to affordable healthcare. This follows a change in Trump administration regulations that eliminates their eligibility for insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace and Basic Health Programs (BHP). This measure affects thousands of so-called dreamers — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children — and represents a setback in the Biden era’s efforts to expand health coverage.

In California alone, about 2,300 dreamers enrolled in Covered California plans will be dropped at the end of August. Similarly, approximately 500 DACA recipients in New Jersey will lose their plans through the state’s Get Covered NJ marketplace. Oregon and Minnesota will also see about 1,000 dreamers excluded from their respective BHP coverage programs. Nationwide, the total number of people affected is expected to reach 11,000.

The rule, approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in June, revokes a 2023 Biden administration regulation that classified DACA recipients as “lawfully present,” a designation that temporarily allowed them to purchase ACA marketplace insurance with financial assistance. Without that classification, DACA recipients are once again barred from accessing federally subsidized health insurance.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) claims that the change is intended to stabilize the risk pool, reduce premiums, and decrease improper enrollments, and says the decision is being made to protect the financial sustainability of the healthcare system; however, health policy experts argue the opposite; removing younger, healthier members from the insurance pool will likely increase premiums for everyone.

What can dreamers do?

Dreamers may still be eligible for employer-sponsored insurance or California’s Medi-Cal program in that state if their income is low enough; however, many dreamers earn too much for Medi-Cal but not enough to afford private insurance without a subsidy.

Some states are fighting the change. In New Jersey, State Attorney General Matt Platkin is leading a legal challenge supported by 15 other states (Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia) against the rule, arguing that it harms both individuals and state health systems. “Undermining dreamers’ access to healthcare not only harms them and their American children, but also harms states like New Jersey,” said Platkin.

The reduction in health coverage is only part of a broader restructuring of federal health policy under the Trump administration. In July, Trump approved deep cuts to Medicaid and the elimination of market subsidies for certain groups of immigrants who are legally in the country, including refugees and asylum seekers, beginning in 2027.

These measures are expected to significantly increase the number of uninsured Americans, especially among low-income and immigrant populations. Although the DACA program offers work authorization and protection from deportation, it does not grant legal immigration status, which limits access to many federal benefits.

Risk of deportation

A few days ago, the Trump administration emphasized that the more than 500,000 DACA beneficiaries are not exempt from deportation. They have even been urged to “self-deport.”

“DACA does not grant any kind of legal status in this country,” Tricia McLaughlin, deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), recently told NPR.

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