WASHINGTON D.C.  — Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20) led 86 of their colleagues in the Senate and House in a letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand investment in outreach and enrollment assistance to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients ahead of the upcoming November open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance.

Senator Booker and Congressman Castro have been longtime leaders in efforts to expand health care access for immigrant communities. To read more about their successful push to secure the May 2024 rule that expanded access to ACA coverage for DACA recipients, click here.

“Starting on November 1, 2024, DACA recipients will be able to enroll in health coverage through Healthcare.gov or their state-based marketplace. While this timeline aligns with the annual open enrollment period, DACA recipients will be simultaneously eligible for a special enrollment period, allowing them to start using health insurance benefits by December 1, 2024 if enrolled by November 15, 2024. Given this unique and time-sensitive opportunity, it is imperative that DACA recipients know of this opportunity, are informed about their eligibility, and are able to navigate the registration process so that they can take full advantage of their new access to medical care,” the lawmakers wrote.

“To accomplish this goal, HHS should invest resources into paid media outreach, funding to community organizations to disseminate information, and HHS staff time into a targeted outreach program for newly eligible DACA recipients. Given that most DACA recipients are under 30, and identified as a “hard to reach” population, HHS must ensure information is not only available but actively and prominently disseminated. With a plurality of DACA recipients preferring to get information about health coverage from a government website, HHS needs to ensure this information is not only available, but actively publicized and promoted to them,” the lawmakers continued.

Background:

New Jersey and Texas are among the states with the highest number of DACA recipients, with 88,250 DACA recipients in Texas and 12,810 DACA recipients in New Jersey as of March 2024. Recent survey data indicates that DACA recipients are nearly three times as likely to be uninsured than the general population in the United States, with more than a quarter (27%) reporting that they do not have any kind of health insurance. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that the Biden administration’s rule could lead to 100,000 previously uninsured DACA recipients enrolling in health care coverage through the ACA marketplace or a Basic Health Program.

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Adam Smith (D-WA-09), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-06), Andy Kim (D-NJ-03), Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-02), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12), Brad Sherman (D-CA-32), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Cori Bush (D-MO-01), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL-03), Diana DeGette (D-CO-01), Dina Titus (D-NV-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL), Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO-05), Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24), Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11), Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-31), Grace Meng (D-NY-06), Greg Casar (D-TX-35), Greg Stanton (D-AZ-04), Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-04), J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46), Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (D-NY-16), James P. McGovern (D-MA-02), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-04), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-01), Juan Vargas (D-CA-51), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), Kathy Castor (D-FL-14), Katie Porter (D-CA-47), Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), Mark Pocan (D-WI-02), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL-10), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44), Nikema Williams (D-GA-05), Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-07), Pete Aguilar (D-CA-33), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25), Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29), Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM-03), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29), Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16), and Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-09)

To read the full text of the letter, click here.