The Keystone: Scott Perry Sends Stunning Letter To A Mother Who Advocated For Her Disabled Son

May 28, 2025

Harrisburg, PENNSYLVANIA - Despite consistent outreach and advocacy from his constituents in support of Medicaid, Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10) has chosen to prioritize billionaire tax breaks over working Pennsylvanians and support historic cuts to this critical benefits program. New reporting from The Keystone details how Rep. Perry’s office responded to the concerns of a constituent who cares for her disabled son with a dismissive and disturbing letter.

Last Monday, ahead of the House vote, local labor leaders, movement groups, and community members rallied outside of Rep. Perry’s district office in Harrisburg to urge him to vote against the Trump tax plan, which included the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history. Rep. Perry joined his Republican colleagues in voting for the bill three days later. Over 180,000 of Perry’s constituents benefit from Medicaid and over 120,000 rely on SNAP.

ICYMI: The Keystone: Scott Perry Sends Stunning Letter To A Mother Who Advocated For Her Disabled Son

• A constituent who cares for her disabled son speaks out about a letter she received from Scott Perry, who voted with the US House for cuts to Medicaid.

• “ I’ve been reaching out to [Perry] for a number of months, and I started with telling Alex’s story because I think when you’re talking about billions it’s easy to lose sight of the people,” Bussard told The Keystone in an interview.  “ I’ve gotten a couple responses. This one though sent me over the edge. The others were boilerplate. ‘I’m not trying to hurt anybody or the deficit spent, our deficit is outta control or whatever.’”

• Bussard, a retiree in her 70s, is Alex’s caregiver, along with her husband. He  suffers from disabilities stemming from a brain tumor diagnosed at age 12.

• Bussard contacted Perry’s office multiple times, including following a telephone townhall in April, where he was allegedly spreading misinformation about Medicaid. She was unable to challenge him on his statements, because she wasn’t called on to speak even though her question was screened. She alleges that Perry stated that 25% of Medicaid spending was misspent and unnecessary.

• Perry hasn’t held an in-person town hall in his district since July, 2019 and voted last week for the US House Republicans budget bill that cuts Medicaid spending by $700 billion in order to pay for tax cuts for wealthy corporations and the ultra-rich.

• Medicaid supports 2 million adults and 1.4 million children throughout Pennsylvania, and it funds 34% of all births across the state. The Center for American Progress estimates that 340,000 Pennsylvanians are at risk of losing health care coverage, including 20,000 residents who live in Perry’s district.

• In his response to Bussard, Perry blamed the liberal media for spreading “desperate, fearmongering propaganda” that he and other Republicans intend to “destroy or dismantle” Medicare or Medicaid.

• “ I just thought it was callous, and cold and disingenuous because Scott Perry’s always been a deficit hawk,” Bussard said. “[Perry] extends tax cuts for very wealthy people and then blames the deficit on the healthcare needs of our country’s and his district’s most vulnerable.”

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