Constituents Penned Letters to the Congressman Asking Him to Reverse Medicaid Cuts

February 12, 2026

Allentown, PENNSYLVANIA — Yesterday morning, Affordable Pennsylvania gave out free coffee and donuts to 75 Lehigh Valley hospital workers as they wrote to their congressman, Ryan Mackenzie, calling on him to reverse historic Medicaid cuts he voted for last summer in the Republican Tax Law.

“Medicaid is a lifeline for so many. I’ve seen this as a nurse, but also as the daughter of someone who relied on the program for their care. My mom was diagnosed with ALS in 2022 and passed the next year. As her disease progressed, we turned to Medicaid to help us afford the specialized care that she needed. Without Medicaid, my mom would have suffered more and died sooner,” said Sara, urgent care nurse from Alrightsville. “Loss of this critical coverage and rising health care costs lead to sicker communities, more pressure on our health care systems, and families facing impossible decisions. Congressman Mackenzie needs to reverse his cuts to Medicaid and fight for lower health care costs for the Lehigh Valley.”

Some messages featured on the post-cards included "Do better!"; "How will we survive! Help us, don't work against us"; "Our community needs these programs"; "You are not representing all of us”; and “Please help our working class families & fund Medicaid!".

Medicaid provides health coverage to almost 3 million Pennsylvanians. Over 160,000 Pennsylvanians in PA-07 rely on Medicaid. Last summer, Congressman Mackenzie voted to cut the program by over $900 billion to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. These cuts will not only rip care away from over 300,000 Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth and nearly 19,000 in Mackenzie’s district, but also threaten 60,000 health care jobs across the Commonwealth. Local hospitals like St. Luke’s Easton and St. Luke’s Sacred Heart could be at risk of closure due to Medicaid cuts.

Rep. Mackenzie also failed to extend critical health care tax credits that benefit 21,000 of his constituents before they expired, raising Pennie costs by an average of 102% across Pennsylvania and 178% for his own constituents - the second highest price hike across all 17 congressional districts.

Last week, Affordable Pennsylvania launched a digital ad featuring a local nurse in Albrightsville who explains how rising costs are forcing her patients to make impossible decisions and calls out Congressman Mackenzie for voting to raise health care costs on his constituents.

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