AG Platkin is leading 18 other jurisdictions to defend a federal effort to expand health insurance access to individuals receiving deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. In May 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) issued a Final Rule for Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) eligibility that expands healthcare access to DACA recipients – commonly referred to as Dreamers – by making them eligible to purchase health insurance through ACA exchanges. The Final Rule will take effect on November 1, 2024. A coalition of states sued HHS and CMS in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in August 2024 and asked the court to delay implementation of the Final Rule, pending judicial review. “DACA recipients have been unjustly excluded from ACA plans for more than a decade, and I am grateful that these young people will be eligible to enroll in these health insurance plans during open enrollment season. Not only is healthcare a human right, but it is also just plain common sense to want your friends, neighbors, students, and employees to have access to health care—which benefits not only them and their children, but the whole community. New Jersey has been proud to lead the fight defending DACA for eight years, and now we’re proud to lead this national coalition defending their health.” – AG Platkin