Biden administration approves Washington state request to offer health insurance to undocumented immigrants | The Hill
By: Joseph Choi (The Hill)
The Biden administration has approved an application by Washington state to expand health insurance access for all residents regardless of immigration status by allowing it to forgo requirements set by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department approved Washington's application for a State Innovation Waiver, issued under Section 1332 of the ACA. The application for this waiver was submitted in May.
What is a 1332 waiver?
A state may apply for a 1332 request if it wishes to pursue "innovative strategies" for providing affordable health care while still retaining protections offered through the ACA.
The HHS secretary may approve a 1332 waiver request if they determine that the proposed plan will provide coverage that is at least as comprehensive as coverage provided without the waiver, which the Washington state plan was found to do.
The Evergreen State's exception
Washington state specifically sought to be granted an exception from a part of the ACA that excluded people living in the U.S. illegally from being eligible for qualified health plans, which are plans certified by the federal government that meet requirements set by the ACA.
According to the two departments, this waiver will expand access to qualified health plans, stand-alone qualified dental plans and a state affordability program to Washington residents regardless of their immigration status.
"The waiver will help Washington work towards its goals of improving health equity and reducing racial disparities by expanding access to coverage for the uninsured population through the state Exchange, all the while not increasing costs for those currently enrolled," the departments said in a statement.
The approval of this waiver is contingent on the state accepting specific terms and conditions. If these requirements are agreed on, then the waiver will go into effect from the beginning of 2024 to the end of 2028.
While the newly approved waiver will not go into effect next year, the White House noted in its approval that Washington state had allocated fiscal 2023 funds for a state subsidy program called Cascade Care Savings. The program offers premium subsidies to residents who get plans through Washington Healthplanfinder and make up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
For 2023, $50 million was allocated for this program. With the approval of this waiver, an additional $5 million will become available for these subsidies beginning the following year.
Not the only one
Roughly 20 other states have applied for and received approval of ACA Section 1332 waivers, including Alaska, Georgia, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. In cases where applications were not approved, the agencies often determined that they were incomplete.
In a similar move to Washington state's, Colorado expanded affordable health care coverage to include people living in the U.S. illegally. While Colorado has received approval for its own ACA waivers, this expansion to include residents regardless of immigration status was done through the state's own programs and did not include federal coverage.
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So tell me again how illegals aren't a financial burden on taxpayers again.
Keep ringing the damn dinner bell Brandon and Democrats. Millions more are in the cue to head our way.
Then wonder why there is ever increasing deficits and debt; and the dollar is devalued as inflation continues to rise from unfunded entitlements.
US exporters are happy when that happens.
Not when there isn't any product to ship; or if they have product the high cost of transportation affects the price they can get on the other end.
Also, in case you missed it the US imports more than we export. We are the largest importer on the planet. Weak dollar hurts consumers, as it takes more money to buy products.
The Brandon economy is in full swing. Exports are going down and imports are going up.
Today, guaranteed health insurance....before too long they will likely have guaranteed jobs, income, schooling, and housing.
American citizens, especially the poor, can go pound sand and howl at the moon.
Somewhere down the road, unintended consequences are bound to occur.
Seems like this would be illegal. While waivers are a thing, the law specifically prohibits this:
The Executive branch overriding that provision seems like a violation of separation of powers.
Ok, but this is not “innovative.” The explicit prohibition against extending benefits to illegal aliens tells us that Congress already considered this idea and rejected it. Waivers should not function as a kind of backdoor veto.
Since when does Brandon care about the separation of powers?
He is on a power executive branch power grab to put all others to shame.