Albeit delayed, another right-wing “conspiracy theory” is about to come true.
Back in 2010, as Congress debated then-President Barack Obama’s expansion of socialized health care through the Affordable Care Act, critics asserted that the program would accept illegal immigrants.
Liberals dismissed that. Typical of the defense of such claims was a February 2012 Seattle Times editorial, which asserted, “Contrary to much propaganda hurled at the Affordable Care Act, the law guaranteeing coverage to all Americans excludes illegal immigrants.”
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As PBS reported in February 2013, “During the debate over the 2010 federal health care overhaul, Democrats promised that illegal immigrants wouldn’t be among the 27 million people who’d gain coverage. President Barack Obama repeated that pledge last month when he outlined his immigration plan.”
Yet Obama’s understudy is about to make it happen.
President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Department is set to issue a regulation that would allow more than 100,000 illegal immigrants to obtain healthcare coverage through Obamacare, according to a report from ABC News.
Some of the illegals destined for coverage are those known as “Dreamers,” or illegals who came to America as minors and have been allowed to stay under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
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Other immigrant classes, such as asylum seekers and those with temporary protected status, can already get insurance through the ACA’s marketplaces, which are part of Obama’s 2010 health care law, also known as “Obamacare.”
Biden’s rule change would take effect on Nov. 1, 2024, just before the presidential election.
“I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed,” Biden said in a statement Friday.
Under Obamacare, recipients receive coverage through a health insurance exchange set up by their state or by the federal government if the state lacks such a program.
Recipients pay a small fraction of the policy’s cost and receive subsidies from the government to cover the rest.
The Trump administration opposed providing illegal health coverage under Obamacare and, in 2020, was rejected in efforts to repeal DACA.
“President Biden and I will continue to do everything in our power to protect DACA, but it is only a temporary solution,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement. “Congress must act to ensure Dreamers have the permanent protections they deserve.”
On Friday, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, criticized the decision to allow DACA recipients to access healthcare marketplaces, saying the Republican presidential candidate would “seal the border, stop the invasion, and expand economic opportunity for American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
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