Open enrollment for Covered California began this month, and for the first time it includes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
Ali Torabi, a 35-year-old DACA recipient and recent medical school graduate, has lived in the U.S. since age five. His experience growing up without health insurance motivated him to pursue a career in medicine.
He views the new coverage option as a critical step toward health equity.
“I have lived experience and I am also a witness to the harms that come into play when you set so many barricades in terms of access to health care for undocumented folk,” Torabi said.
Until now, Torabi faced the challenge of being an uninsured doctor, a situation he said many find hard to believe. "That’s the reality in this country when you don’t have something like health care for all," he said.
DACA is a program started during the Obama administration that provides deportation protection for some undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were children. An estimated 8,500 DACA recipients call San Diego County home.
Starting this month, they can apply for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. It's a critical change Torabi is urging other DACA recipients take advantage of.
“This will not impact your immigration eligibility for you or your family, so do not be afraid,” he said.
When the Biden administration announced the new rule in May, immigrant advocates worried that fear of deportation would keep people from applying. That’s why they are focusing on outreach, said Nicholas Espirito, deputy legal director of the National Immigration Law Center.
“The immigration system can be confusing and it can be confusing to sign up for health care for the first time. We're here to help guide them through that. And that's why we've created these resources to make it easier, and to dispel some of these rumors,” Espiritu said.
A recent survey by the law center reports 35% of DACA recipients believe they’re ineligible for health insurance due to their immigration status.
Espiritu said most DACA recipients have health care through their employers, but a significant number don't. “Maybe up to 100,000 individuals don't have insurance either because they're students, because they're self-employed or because their jobs just don't provide it at this point.”
Torabi is looking forward to applying for health coverage, remembering how afraid he felt when he was hospitalized after being hit by a car.
“I just pulled my IV lines out and I ran away, and in that moment I just thought to myself, 'It would be amazing if there was a physician that understood my experience,'” he said.
Torabi has applied for residency and hopes to stay here in San Diego, continuing his work in the place he calls home.
“I want to give back to this community. Like I said earlier, this country didn't give birth to me, but this city raised me.”
The open enrollment period will run until Jan. 15.
