Taxpayers will shell out at least $7 billion for President Biden’s policy allowing illegal immigrant “Dreamers” here under the DACA program to sign up for Obamacare payments, according to a new analysis Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.
That could rise to as much as $9 billion over a decade if Congress makes certain tax credits permanent. The government would spend another $2 billion on debt service payments, bringing the potential cost to $11 billion.
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That would rise to 140,000 if Congress were to extend a pandemic-era tax credit.
CBO said the government would save some money on lower emergency care costs for DACA recipients, but it’s far outweighed by the higher costs of subsidizing their coverage.
The estimate was requested by senior House Republicans.
When Obamacare was crafted in 2010 it specifically blocked illegal immigrants from gaining access to taxpayer-funded benefits.
That was reaffirmed when President Obama announced DACA in 2012. His administration wrote the definitions to block recipients from signing up for full Obamacare by declaring them not lawfully present.
Mr. Biden last month changed the definition to give DACA recipients full access.
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The change will take effect Nov. 1, just before the election and the start date in most states for the next Obamacare open enrollment period.
There are roughly 600,000 people enrolled in the DACA program, but many of them already have insurance coverage through their jobs, some qualify for Medicaid under states that have expanded coverage to illegal immigrants, and others will decline to sign up.
* Original Article:
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