by Suzanne Potter
People who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, will be dropped from their CoveredCA health plans at the end of August.
The move comes after the Trump administration changed a Biden-era definition of “lawfully present” to revoke health care eligibility for thousands of immigrants.
Christine Smith, policy and legislative advocate for the nonprofit Health Access California, said people only have a few weeks to get medical appointments in before their coverage ends.
“If you’re enrolled in Covered California and you’re a DACA recipient, the Trump administration just ended your coverage,” Smith emphasized. “People should use as much of your health care as you can before the Aug. 31st deadline.”
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defended the move, saying it will save taxpayers money. CoveredCA estimated the change affects about 2,400 DACA recipients in the state who make too much to qualify for Medi-Cal and have jobs not providing health insurance. They can still buy private insurance but it is much more expensive. People who prepaid for their coverage can seek a refund.
Smith predicted it will be a blow not just to those who lose coverage but to the state’s health care system as a whole.
“The lines in the ERs are going to be longer because people are not going to be able to get affordable preventive care,” Smith projected. “They’re just going to get sicker and then end up in the ERs. People will overall incur more medical debt. Hospitals will have more uncompensated care.”
The change is nationwide. As of mid-July, about 538,000 people in the DACA program across the U.S. are ineligible to enroll in any state-based insurance marketplace and are unable to access premium subsidies or cost-sharing assistance.
In other unrelated news:
Free online therapy now available for California undocumented students
Therapists are stepping up to help undocumented students deal with the pervasive fear created by the Trump administration’s ongoing ICE raids.
The group Immigrants Rising offers free online counseling to undocumented students in California, ages 18 to 45.
Mayra Barragan-O’Brien is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and the mental health senior manager with the nonprofit Immigrants Rising.
“They struggle with the fear of family separation, with anxiety, financial struggles, relationship struggles, discrimination,” said Barragan-O’Brien. “And so these mental health providers help them find ways to cope with those stressors.”
The program started during the first Trump administration and has provided about 24,000 hours of therapy to almost 800 undocumented immigrant students to date.
People can learn more online at ImmigrantsRising.org/mental-health-connector. The deadline to apply is Aug. 11.
Barragan-O’Brien said all counselors are licensed therapists who have lived experience or work with the undocumented community.
“They will be connected with a therapist who understands their experience,” said Barragan-O’Brien, “who will not judge, who will meet them where they are, who are culturally sensitive.”
Most of the therapy is conducted in English, but some therapists also speak Spanish, Mandarin, or Tagalog.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
