The Biden administration announced on May 3 that it had finalized a directive to expand the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," to thousands of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that "This rule could lead to 100,000 previously uninsured DACA recipients enrolling in health care through Marketplaces or a BHP ," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
The move took longer than promised and fell short of President Joe Biden's initial proposal to allow those illegal immigrants access to Medicaid, which provides free or low-cost health care coverage to the nation's lowest-income people.
"Today, my Administration is expanding affordable, quality health care coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients," President Biden said in a statement on May 3.
"I'm proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed," President Biden said.
"Making Dreamers eligible to enroll in coverage will improve their health and well-being and strengthen the health and well-being of our nation and our economy." The Biden administration modified the definition of "Lawfully present," which is used to determine eligibility for coverage so that DACA participants can legally enroll on the marketplace exchange.
Last year, President Biden also unveiled a regulation aimed at fending off legal challenges to DACA; President Trump moved to end the policy, and it has bounced back and forth in federal court.
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