A recent rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extending health insurance to children of undocumented immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is getting challenged by a group of 15 Republican-leaning states and their attorneys general.
The states argue these recipients are not “legally present” under the Administrative Procedure Act and are not eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The litigation (PDF) brings together Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia.
“DACA recipients are over three times more likely to be uninsured than the US population writ large, so federal efforts to mitigate such disparities can help DACA recipients obtain more needed medical services, avoid incurring medical debt and experience improved health outcomes,” said the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University on its lawsuit tracker page.
CMS projected the rule, released in May, would give health insurance to more than 100,000 DACA recipients. The lawsuit said that number could approach 200,000 recipients. The states want the courts to postpone the rule’s implementation.
“Expanding eligibility for ACA coverage will impose additional administrative and resource burdens on states that have established their own ACA exchange by allowing additional persons to use such exchanges,” the lawsuit reads.
The CMS policy could encourage illegal immigrants to remain in the country, the lawsuit added.
“They shouldn't receive taxpayer benefits when they arrive, and the Biden-Harris administration shouldn't get a free pass to violate federal law,” said Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach in a statement.
Simultaneously, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect information on undocumented immigrants who use public hospitals for inpatient and emergency uses. The state is looking to receive reimbursement from the federal government for these expenses.