Court Issues Temporary Halt on Obamacare Coverage for Dreamers in 19 States

December 10, 2024 TruthUSA

The judge indicated that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had acted “contrary to law” by extending federal health care benefits to DACA recipients.

A federal court on December 9 issued a temporary injunction in 19 states against the expansion of Obamacare coverage to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children, commonly referred to as “Dreamers.”

This ruling arose from a lawsuit filed in August by the states aiming to block the federal government from executing a rule that would expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, to cover recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

U.S. District Judge for the District of North Dakota, Daniel M. Traynor, granted the states a preliminary injunction and a stay on enforcing the rule, emphasizing that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acted “contrary to law” by offering federal health care benefits to DACA recipients, who are not classified as lawfully present in the U.S.

On May 3, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the CMS had revised the definition of “lawfully present” to allow DACA recipients to enroll legally on the marketplace exchange.

Nevertheless, Traynor asserted that it is the responsibility of Congress to establish who qualifies for lawful presence status in the United States, not agencies like CMS.

“The authority granted to CMS by the ACA is to determine whether an individual meets the requirements for lawful status,” the judge noted in an 18-page ruling on December 9.

“This does not grant the agency the power to bypass congressional authority or redefine the term ‘lawfully present’,” he further explained.

Traynor concluded that the states demonstrated irreparable harm, as they faced the choice of complying with the rule or risking a loss of federal support “to operate the costly exchanges” mandated under the ACA.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who spearheaded the coalition of states in pursuing the lawsuit against the federal government, deemed the court’s ruling a “significant victory for the rule of law.”

“Congress never intended for illegal aliens to access Obamacare benefits. In fact, two laws explicitly prevent them from obtaining such benefits. The Biden administration attempted to violate those laws,” Kobach noted on the social media platform X.

The states participating alongside Kansas in the lawsuit include 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 reached out to CMS for comments.

CMS projected that the rule might “allow for 100,000 previously uninsured DACA recipients to enroll in healthcare through Marketplaces or a Basic Health Program (BHP).”

However, the states contended that extending ACA coverage to DACA recipients would place “additional administrative and resource burdens” on state-run ACA exchanges.

The DACA initiative was initiated by then-President Barack Obama to protect from deportation individuals who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The program enabled them to work legally within the country.

Nonetheless, the “Dreamers” were ineligible for subsidized government health insurance programs since they did not fulfill the criteria for “lawful presence” in the United States.

Jana J. Pruet contributed to this report.

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