The Affordable Care Act bars insurance subsidies and enrollment in the Medicaid expansion for undocumented immigrants, but a wrinkle in California rules does offer coverage for those with “deferred action status.”

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was created by President Obama in 2012 to grant immigrants who came to the country illegally as children — sometimes called Dreamers — legal status and work authorization for two-year periods.

Laurel Lucia, a policy analyst at the UC Berkeley Labor Center and author of the report released Tuesday, said California is one of the few states that lets youth with deferred action status enroll in Medicaid. “But the word still hasn’t been spread,” she said. The report found that 154,000 people in California had been granted the status as of December 2013. About 81%, or 125,000, are eligible for Medi-Cal based on their annual income, which has to be less than $15,850 for an individual. To be eligible for deferred action, immigrants had to arrive in the U.S. before they were 16, be under 31 as of June 2012 and to have continuously lived in the U.S. since 2007.

There’s no data about how many have signed up for Medi-Cal, but the fear of deportation for themselves or family members has probably kept many from enrolling, Lucia said. Federal authorities have said they will not use information provided to determine healthcare eligibility to pursue immigrants in the country illegally.

(HT) LA TIMES

CLARK KENT @ AMERICAS FREEDOM FIGHTERS

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