Your immigration status can affect both your ability to enroll in health coverage through Pennie and your eligibility for financial savings to help pay for that coverage. While many lawfully present immigrants may qualify for coverage through Pennie, not everyone will qualify for financial savings.
A new federal law, H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), changes who qualifies for financial savings through Pennie. Beginning in 2027, only the following three groups of lawfully present non-citizens will be eligible for federal premium tax credits, also known as financial savings, if they meet all other eligibility requirements:
- Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR/Green Card holders)
- Cuban and Haitian entrants under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980
- Residents covered by a Compact of Free Association (COFA) from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, or Palau
View the list of other lawfully present non-citizens who will no longer be eligible for financial savings starting in 2027.
If you lawfully present non-citizen status changes be sure to update your Pennie account as soon as possible with your updated documentation.
Eligibility for health coverage and eligibility for financial savings are not the same. Even if you are not eligible for financial savings, you may still qualify to enroll in health coverage through Pennie, depending on your immigration status and other eligibility requirements.
The following immigration statuses qualify for coverage through Pennie based on their lawful presence status.:
- Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR/Green Card holder)
- Asylee
- Refugee
- Cuban/Haitian Entrant
- Paroled into the U.S.
- Conditional Entrant Granted before 1980
- Battered Spouse, Child and Parent
- Victim of Trafficking and his/her Spouse, Child, Sibling or Parent
- Granted Withholding of Deportation or Withholding of Removal, under the immigration laws or under the Convention against Torture (CAT)
- Individual with Non-immigrant Status, includes worker visas (such as H1, H-2A, H-2B), student visas, U-visa, T-visa, and other visas, and citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau
- Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- Deferred Enforced Departure (DED)
- Lawful Temporary Resident
- Administrative order staying removal issued by the Department of Homeland Security
- Member of a federally recognized Indian tribe or American Indian Born in Canada
- Resident of American Samoa
Applicants for any of these statuses qualify to enroll for coverage through Pennie:
- Temporary Protected Status with Employment Authorization
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
- Victim of Trafficking Visa
- Adjustment to LPR Status
- Asylum (see note below)
- Withholding of Deportation, or Withholding of Removal, under the immigration laws or under the Convention against Torture (CAT)
Applicants for asylum are eligible for coverage through Pennie only if they have been granted employment authorization or are under the age of 14 and have had an application pending for at least 180 days.
People with the following statuses and who have employment authorization qualify for health coverage through Pennie:
- Registry Applicants
- Order of Supervision
- Applicant for Cancellation of Removal or Suspension of Deportation
- Applicant for Legalization under Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
- Legalization under the LIFE Act
Remember: Pennie will only collect information about immigration status for the purpose of determining eligibility for health coverage, and not for any other purpose.