Washington state looks to expand health insurance for undocumented residents
If approved, the ACA waiver will be the first to eliminate immigration documentation requirements for coverage,
More Washington state residents may soon be eligible for health insurance. The Washington state health insurance marketplace recently filed an Affordable Care Act waiver application with the federal government seeking to alter certain ACA requirements in the Evergreen State, according to the Seattle Times. In particular, the state government is hoping to remove the current ACA requirement that bans undocumented immigrants from buying health insurance through the state marketplace. If the waiver is approved, residents without a fixed address or legal status will be able to get health insurance, according to The Center Square.
Related: Latest Biden administration reversal: Immigrant health insurance requirement
In the waiver application, Washington Governor Jay Inslee wrote, “The state of Washington has been a leader in exploring innovative ways to increase access, improve quality, and reduce the number of Washington residents who lack coverage… By decreasing the number of uninsured, addressing health disparities, strengthening the individual market, and improving health care affordability, this waiver also takes an important step forward in addressing health equity.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Treasury will make the final ruling on the waiver application. Though ACA waivers have been approved for other states in the past, no waiver application to eliminate immigration documentation requirements has ever been approved, according to the Seattle Times. Only one state, California, has previously filed such a waiver, and they withdrew the application in 2016 before a decision had been made, according to Kaiser Health News.
The Washington state government has requested a decision by the first of August, though the federal government has 180 days to give its response.
If the waiver is approved, around 105,000 Washington residents would get new access to health care starting in 2024. The cost for the new policies could come to around $1 billion according to one expert, a sum that would likely be largely funded by Washington state taxpayers, as noted by The Center Square. However, a spokesperson for the Washington state health insurance marketplace reportedly disagreed with the $1 billion estimated price tag.
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