Axios Reports House Republicans Are Weighing More Health Care Cuts to Pay for Iran War

April 6, 2026

PENNSYLVANIA - According to new reporting this week from Axios, Congressional Republicans are considering further health care cuts to pay for the war in Iran. As Pennsylvanians struggle in the wake of Medicaid cuts and expired health care tax credits that have skyrocketed the cost of care, the question stands: do Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry support further cuts to pay for this war?

"Following a 2019 car accident, I was diagnosed with spondylosis, a degenerative spinal condition that the trauma accelerated by roughly 40 years. I need a $500 co-pay upfront for my fifth back surgery. When you’re a single mom choosing between groceries and a tripled electric bill, $500 might as well be a million. I’m going to suffer medically because basic health care has become a luxury I can’t afford," said Amanda of Millersburg. "We have representatives supporting policies that drive up our costs while voting against our interests right here in our county. While billions are discussed for foreign wars, I’m sitting here with a broken back and a medical bill I can't pay. The system is failing the very people who keep the world spinning. I want to work and be healthy for my family, but the out-of-pocket costs are stopping me. It’s time for leadership that actually prioritizes our health over their politics.”

This war is costing the U.S. billions of dollars a day while raising costs on working families already struggling to get by. As of Tuesday, gas prices averaged over $4 nationally, the highest since 2022, with many counties in Pennsylvania not far behind. It took only a month for gas prices to jump a full dollar. The war has also spiked the cost of fertilizer, hurting our farmers and threatening higher food prices, and will continue to raise costs on consumers across the board.

Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry have already demonstrated that they support the war in Iran, voting last month against a resolution to curb President Trump’s war powers. They have also supported significant health care cuts, with all three voting last summer for the Republican Tax Law that cut Medicaid by over $900 billion to pay for bigger tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The cuts will rip care away from over 300,000 Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth, threaten 60,000 health care jobs across the Commonwealth, and put hospitals and nursing homes at risk of closure, leaving Pennsylvanians hours away from or without access to critical care. They also failed to extend critical health care tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, raising Pennie costs by an average of 102% across Pennsylvania, with Rep. Perry and Rep. Mackenzie’s constituents facing the largest and second largest district-wide increases respectively.

Affordable Pennsylvania calls on these congressmen to prioritize affordability for their constituents over funding a war that continues to raise the costs of basic necessities on them.

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