Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), and Scott Perry (PA-10) Voted for the Largest Cuts to Medicaid in History

May 23, 2025

PENNSYLVANIA - At the expense of hundreds of thousands of their constituents who rely on Medicaid and SNAP, Pennsylvania Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), and Scott Perry (PA-10) voted for extreme cuts to these critical assistance programs in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires. With this vote, these representatives supported the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history and threatened the basic needs of millions of Pennsylvanians. Reporting from Pennsylvania outlets outlines the human toll these cuts will have throughout the Commonwealth.

The Keystone: Republican Medicaid cuts mean hospital closures and maternal health deserts for rural Pennsylvanians

• “ In rural Pennsylvania, the much more significant percentage of patients are on Medicaid and Medicare,” State Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny), the only emergency room physician to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, said in an interview with The Keystone. “If you start to take Medicaid dollars away in whatever matter, then the financial situation does not work for rural hospitals especially.”

• “This is a math problem,” Venkat explained. When a hospital in rural Pennsylvania has a population that is 40% Medicare, 35% Medicaid, and the rest either uninsured or commercially insured, they’re dependent on Medicaid reimbursement and Medicare reimbursement in order to survive to provide the services they need.”

• Medicaid supports close to 2 million adults and 1.4 million children throughout the Commonwealth and the proposed cuts could slash $2 to $5 billion in federal funding for Pennsylvania.

• The program is also responsible for covering 34% of births in the state, and these cuts could exacerbate growing maternal health deserts in rural Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Independent: Health care workers say Medicaid cuts would devastate Pennsylvania nursing homes

• “In Pennsylvania, where close to one-quarter of the state’s population is enrolled in Medicaid, health care workers, Democratic elected officials, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, and think tanks say these cuts could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing health coverage in the commonwealth and could prompt hospitals and nursing homes to close.”

• “At the Dunmore nursing home, there are 88 residents, all but one of whom use Medicaid to pay for their care at the facility, Hurst said. What, Hurst asked, would the Medicaid cuts mean for these residents — people who are unable to look after themselves and whose families often don’t have the time, resources or skills needed to care for patients like hers? Nursing homes rely heavily on Medicaid funding; about 63% of nursing home funding comes from Medicaid in Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Children and Families at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. If that funding is reduced and nursing homes end up closing, that would be disastrous for residents, caregivers and local economies alike, Hurst said.”

• “The Medicaid cuts wouldn’t only hurt nursing home residents, Hurst explained. If nursing homes closed, that would leave people like Hurst without a job and damage rural economies often boosted by health care employers, she said.”

• “Both Shamberg and Matt Yarnell, the president of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, painted a dire picture if the Medicaid cuts are enacted.”

• “These programs are vital,” Yarnell continued. “If they do not exist, these people will not have access to this kind of care. Prior to these programs existing, we saw poor seniors dying on the streets. That’s where we’re headed if these programs don’t exist.”

Axios Pittsburgh: Medicaid and SNAP cuts could slash Pa. jobs

• “Pennsylvania could lose nearly 49,000 jobs and see its GDP shrink by $5.3 billion under potential federal budget cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, a new report estimates.”

• “Why it matters: Millions of Pennsylvanians rely on federal financial assistance, but direct recipients of Medicaid payments and SNAP benefits are hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, grocery stores and more”.

• “Cuts in federal funding would shrink revenue for those businesses and their employees, rippling across other supply chains, including food producers and medical equipment suppliers.”

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