June 26, 2023 - LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara made the following statement lat week in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in support for expanding health care coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The Commissioner’s comments were submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Clarifying Eligibility for Qualified Health Plan Through an Exchange, Advanced Payments of Premium Tax Credit, Cost Sharing Reductions, a Basic Health Program, and for Some Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs:

“I am supporting changes to eligibility rules to health exchanges because increasing access to affordable, equitable, and comprehensive health insurance coverage is a right, not a privilege. In California, we believe unequivocally in the values of fairness and inclusion, and a person’s immigration status should not determine whether or not they receive life-saving care.”

Notes:

• As a State Senator, Commissioner Lara authored Health4All Kids covering all children up to age 18 and introduced the first bills to cover all older adults, regardless of immigration status.
• The letter can be accessed here 
  Source: CA. Dept. of Ins.