Expanding ‘Obamacare’ to Illegal Immigrants Would Cost Billions: Federal Agency

Enabling illegal immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to receive health care under the Affordable Care Act will cost at least $7 billion a year, a federal agency said on June 24.

The analysts projected that, on average, about 110,000 DACA recipients would enroll to receive health care because of the new rule. If that holds, then it will cost taxpayers $7 billion per year from 2025 through 2034, according to the analysts’ calculations.

Illegal immigrants who are brought to the United States at a young age are eligible for DACA, which, like Obamacare, was created while President Barack Obama was in office. While in the DACA program, illegal immigrants are shielded from deportation. Some 528,300 immigrants were active in the DACA program as of March 31, according to the government.

Illegal immigrants usually cannot receive federal health care coverage, and the Affordable Care Act states that only noncitizens who are “lawfully present” can enroll in coverage. But the new rule from the Department of Health and Human Services makes DACA recipients eligible starting on Nov. 1 for the health insurance marketplace and basic health programs by stating that the recipients are lawfully present for insurance purposes.

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The Biden administration previously said it estimated that 100,000 previously uninsured immigrants would receive coverage under the rule.

If a related tax credit that is currently temporary is made permanent, the Congressional Budget Office said, then it estimates that about 140,000 DACA recipients will receive health care coverage on average per year. That would take the cost from $7 billion to $9 billion per year from 2024 through 2035. And paying for debt services for the illegal immigrants would cost an additional $2 billion, the analysts said.

The office also said that permanently expanding subsidies for Obamacare would cost $383 billion over the next decade and go to many wealthy individuals.

“At a time when we are experiencing a record $35 trillion national debt, with health care expenditures accounting for nearly 18 percent of GDP, it is unconscionable that Democrats would continue to push for massive taxpayer-funded handouts to the wealthy and large health insurance companies,” Mr. Arrington, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Mr. Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a joint statement.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Some Democrats have previously praised the new rule for DACA recipients, whom they typically describe as “dreamers.”

“President Biden is committed to supporting our dreamers, who are an integral part of the fabric of America,” Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said in May.

“Dreamers are extraordinary young people who ought to have access to affordable health care just like all of us,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) added.

Republicans, though, largely say they do not support the action.

“This massive and unlawful expansion of Obamacare from Joe Biden comes at a time when America can least afford it,” Rep. Erin Smith (R-Ind.) said earlier this year. “The continued prioritization of non-citizens over Americans is appalling and must be stopped.”