Arizona joins 13 other states in effort to protect ‘Dreamer’ access to ACA health insurance
Jan 15, 2025, 6:30 PM
PHOENIX – Arizona is taking the side of “Dreamers” in the legal battle over a federal policy that gives young adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children access to subsidized health insurance.
Arizona’s Kris Mayes and 13 other Democratic attorneys general filed a motion in a North Dakota district court Wednesday seeking to provide defense for a Biden administration rule that lets Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, aka “Dreamers,” use Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges to purchase health insurance.
The Democrats want to enter the fray because the Trump administration isn’t expected to defend the policy in a lawsuit filed last year by a Kansas-led group of Republican attorneys general.
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“The incoming administration’s apparent decision to abandon the defense of this rule is not just wrong — it’s harmful,” Mayes said in a press release. “Denying ‘Dreamers’ the ability to purchase affordable health insurance hurts public health, drives up costs for everyone and undermines the contributions these individuals make to our communities.”
How many ‘Dreamers’ are eligible for targeted health insurance policy?
Under the rule that is being challenged, an estimated 147,000 DACA recipients are eligible to use the subsidized insurance marketplace. The Republican lawsuit argues that the ACA (aka Obamacare) and a 1996 law prohibit immigrants who are in the country illegally from receiving the federal benefits.
“Arizona will not stand by while an essential lifeline for thousands is stripped away,” Mayes said. “We are stepping in to defend what the federal government won’t — basic fairness and access to health care.”
A federal judge in North Dakota ruled last month that the immigrants would not be allowed to obtain the coverage in the states that sued while the case moves forward. Eligible DACA recipients in other states can still get coverage under the Biden administration rule, which took effect on Nov. 1, 2024.
President-elect Donald Trump has been critical of the rule and declined to defend the ACA and DACA in his first term.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is leading the Democratic defense effort, which, in addition to Arizona, includes California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
