More than a decade after the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act, over 12,200 people — 5.4 percent of Alexandria residents — remain uninsured, and thousands more are underinsured. Most of Arlington’s uninsured residents are in the county’s Hispanic, Black, and immigrant communities, leading to significant racial disparities in quality of health care, patient outcomes, and life expectancy.

The passage of national, improved Medicare For All would guarantee universal, comprehensive health coverage to all Arlington residents -- without copays, deductibles, premiums, or out-of-pocket costs. It would also eliminate the need for employer-sponsored health insurance, saving the Arlington county government more than $40 million per year and relieve local businesses of the burden of providing health insurance to employees.

This is why we are asking the Arlington County Board to pass the proposed resolution to endorse the Medicare For All Act (H.R. 3069 and S. 1506) in the United States Congress.

Similar resolutions have been passed in cities such as Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Tampa, and New Orleans – as well as locally in Alexandria, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Charles County, and Annapolis, Maryland. With this resolution, Arlington has the opportunity to join this growing list of localities, and we urge the councilmembers to take advantage of this opportunity by passing this resolution.