Brooklyn Park Joins Osseo, Brooklyn Center in Support of Medicare for All
The Brooklyn Park City Council joined other suburbs and cities in passing a resolution expressing support for the Minnesota Health Plan and the federal Medicare for All Act.
Council member Susan Pha, who co-sponsored the resolution with council member Wynfred Russell, said that the rising cost of health insurance has contributed to the city’s property tax levy increase.
“It’s not okay for regular folks and individuals to forgo health care for folks because they can’t afford it. I know my council colleagues have heard this story from residents,” said Pha in the Dec. 12 meeting.
Other council members shared their stories and concerns about medical care.
“There’s something that’s gotta change,” said council member Tonja West-Hafner. “[Health care] is so focused on profit, and so focused on the person providing it that something has to change. We can’t have people worried about not going to the doctor.”
The resolution says that local governments must often deal most directly with the consequences of the “unaffordable” and “inequitable” health insurance systems. It also said healthcare expenses for Brooklyn Park employees have been increasing at an unsustainable annual rate “putting upward pressure on local property taxes and threatening the financial stability of the city.”
Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Osseo and St. Louis Park have already passed resolutions supporting the Medicare for All Act of 2021 (HR 1976) and the state single payer bill called “The Minnesota Health Plan” (SF 1643).
Related: Newsmakers: ‘Culturally Responsive Mental Health Care’ Offered to Brooklyn Center Residents
