Fight for HEAL for Immigrant Families Act and Health Care Coverage for All Immigrants Continues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2023

CONTACT: Virginia Lucy, media@napawf.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Biden Administration is announcing that it will expand eligibility to health care benefits under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

This provision has been a major component of the Health Equity and Access Under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act which would remove unnecessary structural barriers to health care coverage for immigrant communities. NAPAWF co-leads the HEAL Coalition, a coalition of over 350 organizations that support the bill, along with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. NAPAWF, alongside our coalition partners and advocates, has worked tirelessly to fight for passage of the HEAL Act and to push the Biden Administration to expand access to health care to DACA recipients.

Sung Yeon Choimorrow, NAPAWF’s Executive Director, issued the following statement:

“This is a major victory for immigrant communities, including the thousands of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) who are active DACA recipients. We are proud to stand alongside Latina Institute and many of the tireless advocates and partners who are working to ensure that every person regardless of immigration status has access to affordable health care.

We applaud President Joe Biden and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra for removing unnecessary policy barriers that prevent those who were brought to this country as children from accessing health care.

This would not have been possible without the steadfast leadership of our congressional champions who continue to advocate for our immigrant communities. Thank you to Senator Cory Booker, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, and Congresswoman Nanette Barragán for their leadership in fighting for the HEAL for Immigrant Families Act. And to Senator Booker and Congressman Joaquin Castro who have led the fight for Medicaid and ACA eligibility for DACA recipients.

Our fight for HEAL does not end with this victory. We must continue to fight to pass all provisions of HEAL by ensuring Medicaid and CHIP eligibility for lawfully present immigrants by removing the discriminatory five-year waiting period and extending ACA insurance eligibility to undocumented immigrants.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.