CT DACA recipients can soon get health coverage on the exchange

Beginning Nov. 1, Connecticut participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly known as DACA, can for the first time enroll in health coverage through Access Health CT.

The change follows a federal policy finalized in May expanding the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, eligibility to DACA recipients.

The ACA allows U.S. citizens and lawfully present noncitizens to obtain health coverage and subsidies through state-based marketplaces, like Access Health CT. But, prior to the new regulations, DACA recipients weren’t considered “lawfully present” as it pertains to the ACA.

“This really fixes that exclusion that happened when DACA was created back in 2012,” said Carolina Bortolleto, a co-founder of CT Students for a Dream, a statewide organization advocating for undocumented students and their families. “It shows that expanding coverage is something our government officials know is a good thing to do.”

With the updated regulation, DACA recipients will now be able to enroll in coverage through state-based marketplaces, like Access Health CT. They can also obtain subsidies to help cover the cost of a plan if they qualify based on their income, address, and household size. 

People can enroll online, in person, or by phone. Residents can also visit one of Access Health CT’s Navigator partner locations to get help from an enrollment specialist. 

The Biden administration estimates that more than a third of DACA recipients currently do not have health insurance and that the new rule could help 100,000 people across the country obtain coverage. 

There are roughly 2,900 DACA recipients in Connecticut as of March 2024, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Bortolleto said most DACA recipients that have health coverage get it through their employers. Some also qualify for Medicaid, known as HUSKY in Connecticut. 

But the expansion could still face legal challenges. 

A lawsuit filed by Kansas and 18 other states seeks to block the new rule. But no decision has been made yet, meaning DACA recipients are still eligible for marketplace plans and subsidies when open enrollment starts on Nov. 1. 

‘HUSKY for immigrants’

Bortolleto said that the new federal regulation could also help bolster the ongoing push to broaden health coverage to undocumented residents in the state.

“It’s particularly significant because here in Connecticut we are fighting to expand access to HUSKY Medicaid to the undocumented population,” Bortolleto said. “It also highlights that there’s still a gap that will be left behind, even after DACA recipients are able to access the ACA.”

In Connecticut, children 15 and under, as well as people who are pregnant and postpartum, qualify for health coverage from the state regardless of immigration status.

But the effort to extend Medicaid-like coverage to children without permanent legal status has been a gradual and sometimes frustrating journey for many advocates. In 2021, legislators passed a bill opening the program to undocumented kids 8 and younger but delayed the launch until Jan. 1, 2023. In 2022, they broadened the population to include those 12 and younger.

Last year, a measure was introduced expanding it to everyone 25 and younger. But legislators settled on a pared back version, folded into the state budget, that extends coverage to kids 15 and younger regardless of their immigration status, which went into effect in July of this year.

The program has seen strong demand. As of April of this year, over 11,000 children 12 and under who wouldn’t have otherwise qualified for Medicaid because of their immigration status were enrolled in state-sponsored Medicaid-like coverage, smashing estimates that roughly 4,250 kids would enroll.