What is Alliance? 

The DC Healthcare Alliance Program, known as “the Alliance,” is a locally funded program that fills a critical gap in medical coverage for  immigrant residents who can’t qualify for Medicaid, including those who are undocumented, have work permits, have Temporary Protected Status, and some recent green card recipients. 

For undocumented immigrants at or below 210% of the federal poverty level — (or making $33,672 or less a year for an individual), the Alliance is a lifeline to medical treatment.  

What changes are on the table?  

About 28,000 residents are covered by the Alliance and, under the proposed budget, all would lose that coverage by October 2027. But the impact of defunding the program will likely be even greater. The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act strips Medicaid eligibility from several groups of people, including asylees, refugees, and survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence with special status. These groups will be uninsured starting in 2027 and will instead turn to locally funded programs for help.  

But even as the need for Alliance is set to increase, the Mayor and the DC Council proposes reducing eligibility and benefits and phasing out adult eligibility entirely by Fiscal Year 2027. It also would stop all new enrollments for those 21 and over starting in October of this year. These cuts to the Alliance will be devastating for low-income people, particularly in the face of severe cuts to the federal social safety net.  

The Council also proposes defunding the Immigrant Children Program and moving the roughly 5,000 children and young adults it serves to a different, less comprehensive healthcare program. 

What would the impact be on DC? 

The thousands of adults losing health care coverage will likely have worse health outcomes and poorer quality of care. Few, if any, will be able to afford private health insurance, and that loss of coverage for so many community members can cause a strain on emergency health services and negatively affect the quality of public health in the District.  

What should the Council do? 

It would take $48 million in next year’s budget for the Council to fund Alliance and continue to protect 28,000 lives. At the same time, the Council plans to spend $500 million on the RFK Stadium just for next year. And the budget has yet to factor in revenue generators, such as the proposal put forward by Councilmember Zachary Parker, that would raise taxes on DC’s most wealthy to pay for important public services like the Alliance. 

The DC Council should put residents first and not double down on the harms that federal lawmakers have already caused our immigrant neighbors. Legal Aid DC also urges the Council to allow more time for thoughtful solutions instead of rushing to strip health coverage.  

Councilmembers must preserve health insurance for all by protecting and fully funding the Alliance and ICP when they next vote on July 28.  

Call your Councilmembers or send an email at bit.ly/savealliance.