Thousands of California DACA recipients to lose health coverage

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DACA’s HEALTHCARE CUT OFF

via Amelia Wu

Over 2,300 DACA recipients in California will see their health insurance terminated in a month.

For Jessica Altman, the news wasn’t a surprise. Covered California had seen a proposed federal regulation in the spring and submitted comments in opposition to it. Health coverage was expanded to immigrants covered under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for the first time in May 2024, during the Biden administration.

“Even as we began the process of opening our doors, doing outreach, providing information to DACA recipients, we were also very honest that there were challenges,” said Altman, the executive director at Covered California.

The change made by the federal government in June changed the definition of “lawfully present” to exclude DACA recipients from Affordable Care Act health insurance. Covered California is required to comply with the decision made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees the Affordable Care Act.

Altman explained that while emergency rooms are still required to provide care under law, there are other kinds of services that are no longer accessible, like routine care and chronic disease management. With the lack of preventive care, Altman said, healthcare costs can be driven up without the services that might stop people from needing to go to the hospital in the first place.

Even though healthcare insurance through Covered California is cut off, the insurance company is trying to share resources and information with DACA recipients, even if the coverage is not through them.

Altman said about 14,000 enrollment partners, or insurance agents and community-based organizations, across the state will be assisting with the effort to “enroll, re-enroll and navigate our coverage system.” About 60% of Covered California’s DACA recipients have worked with one of the enrollment assistants in the past, according to Altman.

DACA recipients in California can still qualify for Medi-Cal if they meet income and other eligibility requirements, according to the California Department of Health Care Services.

“We have no choice but to comply with federal law and regulation,” Altman said. “Moving to dis-enroll anyone based on who they are, how they’re here is not aligned with our mission and values. And if there’s anything that we can do to provide information, resources, support, explaining what options there are other than Covered California, we’re here and ready to do that.”

GRAY, GOP CLASH OVER RURAL HEALTHCARE

via David Lightman

Republicans say Rep. Adam Gray is hurting rural hospitals. Gray counters that he voted against the Trump administration’s Big Beautiful Bill and its dramatic cuts in Medicaid funding, cuts that are expected to have a huge impact on rural and small town constituents.

Gray, a Democrat, this week introduced legislation to restore funding for Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs. An estimated 420,000 people in Gray’s Central Valley district rely on Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in California.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has proposed similar legislation.

Republicans see Gray’s stance very differently.

“Out of touch Democrat Adam Gray voted against a once-in-a-generation investment to save rural healthcare,” said the Republican National Campaign Committee in an email this week.

It cited a $50 billion federal fund the Big Beautiful Bill created to help rural hospitals.

“Radical Democrat Adam Gray has made his priorities clear: ideology over outcomes, and politics over Californians. While President Trump and Republicans are working to restore and revitalize rural America, Gray is turning his back on Californians. Rural America deserves better. ” said NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez.

Ridiculous, says Gray, who narrowly won his 2024 election and is considered one of the nation’s most politically vulnerable incumbents.

“Our Valley is already experiencing one of the worst physician shortages in the state,” he said. “The devastating cuts included in the GOP’s hyper-partisan reconciliation bill will make it even more difficult and more expensive to get care close to home. I refuse to sit by and let these cuts rip coverage away from our community.”

THE SHORTEST PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN MODERN HISTORY via Rebecca-Ann Jattan

Former Vice President Kamala Harrisannounced the release of her memoir documenting her 2024 presidential run, following her decision to sit out the race for California governor.

Her new book titled “107 Days” is a “behind-the scenes look” at her experience “leading the shortest presidential campaign in modern history”, Harris said on X.

Scheduled for a fall release, she teased the book as a candor-filled journal, documenting what she saw and learned throughout her journey and what she knows will be needed to “move forward.”

“Kamala Harris is a singular American leader,” Jonathan Karp, chief executive officer of Simon & Schuster, said in a release. “ ‘107 Days’ captures the drama of running for president better than just about anything I’ve read. It’s one of the best works of political nonfiction Simon & Schuster has ever published. It’s an eyewitness contribution to history and an extraordinary story.”

The book marks the latest public-facing move by Harris, who has taken a step back from the limelight since her defeat last year and came quickly on the heels of her announcement to forego the battle for governor.

While it remains unclear exactly what her next political steps might be, it does not seem that she is fully closing the door to future campaigns.

“In writing this book, one truth kept coming back to me: Sometimes the fight takes a while,” Harris said in a social media video. “But I remain full of hope. And I remain clear eyed. I will never stop fighting to make our country reflect the very best of its ideals.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Think about what the GOP is revealing with their attempt to suddenly change the Congressional maps: they know their agenda is so unpopular that they're going to lose unless something changes. Of course, what they should be changing is their policies, not the maps.”

— Pete Buttigieg, former US Secretary of Transportation, on X

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