Brenda Romero said that as a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), she was “lucky” to be able to secure health insurance through her job. 

Romero, who became a naturalized citizen in August, remembers having to juggle a full-time job as a student. Like other DACA recipients, she was ineligible for government-funded insurance programs — even though the taxes she paid funded their existence. 

“It was a lot going to school full time and working full time,” said Romero, who is 30 now but came to the U.S. as a 2-year-old. 

But as of Friday, DACA recipients in Nevada and nationwide became eligible for the first time to sign up for health insurance coverage through the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Romero, now that she serves as the Undocumented Students Program Coordinator at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) celebrated the event. She is in charge of getting the word out at CSN about the program that is available through Nevada Health Link, the Silver State’s exchange. 

The new ACA expansion comes at the start of an open enrollment period, which runs to Jan. 15, 2025. 

The expansion is the result of a Biden administration rule in May that ended the exclusion of DACA recipients from health plans offered on ACA marketplaces and coverage through a Basic Health Program (BHP). A White House fact sheet said it will help more than 100,000 people get health insurance. Previously, undocumented people in Nevada could not access plans through Nevada Health Link.

It will also let the recipients access subsidies that lower the cost of monthly premiums.

The ACA expansion could take on additional significance in Nevada, which has the highest per capita undocumented population of any state and is home to some 11,000 DACA recipients.  

As many as 1 in 4 DACA recipients are uninsured, according to a survey published last year by the immigrant rights nonprofit group National Immigration Law Center, and despite high rates of employment, more than 40 percent DACA-eligible individuals have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. 

“This now gives [DACA recipients] another option to be able to look at health care options that may be more affordable than going to private insurance companies,” Romero said. 

Rosa Alejandre, navigator program manager of Nevada Health Link — where Nevadans can shop, compare, and purchase qualified health insurance plans — said that it's especially important for the group to understand the expansion as it's likely that many have not seen a doctor in years. 

Alejandre also urged people to register as open enrollment is the only time period in which a resident can enroll in health insurance except when there is a qualifying life event such as having a child. Nevada Health Link has a free hotline to help people register for insurance and has applications available in Spanish. 

The rule’s durability, however, may be tenuous. In August, Kansas and 18 other states filed a lawsuit to block the ACA expansion in a North Dakota federal court, and the case was assigned to a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, DACA itself faces multiple court challenges over its constitutionality.

Despite the expansion, DACA recipients still won’t be able to get coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which offers free or low-cost insurance for kids and teens. Romero said there is more work to be done. 

“I do think that we have to look beyond just our DACA recipients and see how we can also bring these resources to our other undocumented communities,” Romero said.