A federal court on Dec. 9 temporarily blocked in 19 states the expansion of Obamacare coverage to immigrants who were illegally brought to the United States as children, also known as “Dreamers.”
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed in August by the states seeking to prevent the federal government from implementing the rule to expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, to recipients of Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA).
U.S. District Judge for the District of North Dakota Daniel M. Traynor granted the states a preliminary injunction and stay against enforcing the rule, stating that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had “acted contrary to law” by providing federal health care benefits to DACA recipients, who are, by definition, not lawfully present in the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services said on May 3 that the CMS had modified the definition of “lawfully present”—which is used to determine eligibility for coverage—to enable DACA recipients to legally enroll on the marketplace exchange.
However, Traynor stated that it is Congress that should determine who qualifies for lawful presence status in the United States, rather than agencies such as the CMS.
“The authority granted to CMS by the ACA is to ascertain whether an individual meets the requirements for lawful status,” the judge stated in an 18-page ruling on Dec. 9.
“It by no means allows the agency to circumvent congressional authority and redefine the term ‘lawfully present’,” he added.
Traynor determined that the states demonstrated irreparable harm, as they would be forced to either comply with the rule or risk losing federal support “to operate the costly exchanges” required under the ACA.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who led the coalition of states in filing the lawsuit against the federal government, called the court’s decision a “big win for the rule of law.”
“Congress never intended that illegal aliens should receive Obamacare benefits. Indeed, two laws prohibit them from receiving such benefits. The Biden administration tried to break those laws,” Kobach stated on social media platform X.
The states joining Kansas in the lawsuit are Ohio, Idaho, Nebraska, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas.
The Epoch Times has contacted the CMS for comment.
The CMS estimated that the rule “could lead to 100,000 previously uninsured DACA recipients enrolling in health care through Marketplaces or a BHP [Basic Health Program].”
But the states argued that expanding ACA coverage to DACA recipients will impose “additional administrative and resource burdens,” as it would allow them access to state-run ACA exchanges.
The DACA initiative was launched by then-President Barack Obama to protect from deportation those who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents as children. The program allowed them to work legally in the country.
However, the “Dreamers” were ineligible for government-subsidized health insurance programs because they did not meet the definition of having a “lawful presence” in the United States.
