Public Comment on HHS Reinterpretation of Federal Public Benefit

Public Comment on HHS Reinterpretation of Federal Public Benefit

by Bethany Pray, Esq.| Aug 14, 2025

Equity work, Family Economic Security, federal action, Health, Housing, Immigration, Income, Research and Policy Analysis

The following public comment was submitted by Bethany Pray, Esq. on behalf of CCLP on August 13, 2025 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regarding the reinterpretation of "Federal Public Benefit". For more information see the proposed rule on the Federal Register.

Re: Notice: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA); Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefit"

The Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) writes in opposition to the reinterpretation of the definition of a "Federal public benefit" by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). CCLP is a statewide antipoverty organization advancing the rights of all Coloradans. Founded more than 25 years ago, CCLP engages in legislation, research, administrative advocacy and litigation to protect Coloradans' ability to achieve better health and economic security.

Background

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS), by reversing 30 years of legal interpretation, will harm thousands of Coloradans and prevent them and their families from accessing critical public programs, burden state and local governments and providers of services, and put people's personal information at risk. Enacted in 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) limited access to certain federal programs to "qualified immigrants," and included those with Lawful Permanent Resident Status, refugees, persons granted asylum, certain immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Pacific Island nations, certain survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, and other specific categories. This excluded some people who are lawfully present, including individuals with Temporary Protected Status, people with nonimmigrant visas, and individuals granted deferred action, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

While access to certain federal benefits was not permitted for those with excluded statuses under PRWORA, other benefits that were designed to serve the larger community were identified as broadly available to all.[1] Both the Department of Justice and HHS have consistently applied that interpretation, agreeing, for example, that PRWORA's restrictions did not apply to the Health Center program.

HHS has now abandoned this decades-long position to cut the full community off from programs that Colorado has relied on to maintain public health and wellbeing.[2] These programs include Head Start, the Title X Family Planning Program, and the Health Center Program (e.g. federally qualified health centers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration) among others.

HHS lacks the authority to unilaterally reverse the well-established interpretation of a 1996 federal law without Congressional or judicial action, or to dispense with the Administrative Procedure Act's notice-and-comment requirements. What harms the health and the rights of our neighbors, colleagues and fellow students, whatever their national origin, harms all of us.

Read the full public comment here.

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[1] 63 Fed. Reg. 41658 (Aug. 4, 1998).

[2] 90 Fed. Reg. 31232 (July 14, 2025).

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