Protect Health Care
for Immigrant Families

DACA Health Care Access

A Biden Administration policy finalized in May 2024 makes an estimated 100,000 people with DACA eligible for health care through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace system. When you consider that the spouses and children of people with DACA may well be uninsured too, despite having been eligible, the number of people who could benefit from this reform may be much larger. But the new policy will only translate into coverage and care for people with DACA if states effectively implement the policy change and inform the people they serve about the new eligibility rule.

PIF partners can help by drawing the issue to the attention of journalists in their communities. We’ve prepared two news pitches for partners to tailor and use with health and immigration reporters in their states. The first version is a starting place for partners in states with their own ACA marketplaces. The second is for states with federal marketplaces. In fall, we’ll follow up with a pitch aimed more at raising awareness before the ACA open enrollment period begins.

Meanwhile, we encourage partners to put the sample pitches to good use in their communities. And we invite partners to reach out to Ed Walz on our communications team with questions or for help using the sample pitches.

Medicaid Unwinding

Recent policy changes have cost millions access to dependable, affordable health care through Medicaid. That includes immigrant families across the country. PIF pushed policymakers to mitigate the barriers facing immigrant families seeking to renew Medicaid coverage and documented the harm resulting from policy failures. Learn more about our Medicaid “unwinding” work here.

Medicaid policy is changing, putting health care for millions at risk. Because immigrant families face unique obstacles, PIF is working to advocate for immigrant-inclusive policy and arm families with the information they need to take charge of their health care. Join us to help protect families in your community.

Immigrant Families at Risk

COVID-19 response legislation enacted in 2020 sharply increased federal funding for state Medicaid programs. The law also required states to keep Medicaid beneficiaries insured until the end of the pandemic public health emergency. That requirement is ending, and states will begin re-assessing Medicaid eligibility in April 2023 – a process sometimes described as “unwinding” the continuous coverage policy. The federal government estimates that millions of people will become uninsured – especially people who have never renewed Medicaid coverage before and people who have moved since 2020.

Immigrant families face additional obstacles to remaining covered:

• Language barriers when information is provided only in English
• Misinformation about immigration status and Medicaid eligibility
• Misunderstanding that using Medicaid will compromise future immigration applications
• Concerns about providing personal information to a government agency
• Concerns that Medicaid agencies will share information with immigration officials

Help Families in Your Community

Close the Information Gap

We can all help to lower these barriers and keep immigrant families covered. PIF has developed simple materials in nine languages that include accurate, accessible information you can share with immigrant families in your community. The links are all to editable versions so you can add contact information, add your logo and colors, or tweak the language. (Wherever possible, we ask that you also include the PIF logo).

You can also help spread the word through social media. Just click here to retweet a post sharing key information families need to know.

Push Policymakers to Protect Families

As the flyer notes, federal law requires states to adopt transition plans that minimize health insurance coverage losses. But a PIF analysis of assessments by advocates and community-based organization finds that neither states nor federal officials are doing enough to lower known barriers facing immigrant families. Click here to learn more about what we found, what we’re doing to protect immigrant families, and how you can help.