New Report: Rising Health Care Costs Force 160,000 Pennsylvanians to Drop Coverage

7/10/26, 4:00 PM

PENNSYLVANIA — A new report from Pennsylvania's Independent Fiscal Office confirms what Pennsylvanians have been telling their elected representatives for months: rising health care costs are forcing them to make impossible choices.

The report found that about 160,000 Pennsylvanians have lost or dropped their health insurance this year as rising premiums put coverage out of reach. Statewide, Pennie enrollment has fallen by about 40,000 people compared to last year. For some working families, monthly health insurance costs have increased four- or fivefold—adding up to thousands of dollars more each month.

Despite warnings from experts and advocates, Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry prioritized expanding tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy over extending expiring health care tax credits for their constituents, letting them expire at the end of last year.

Without these tax credits, Pennie costs increased by an average of 102% across Pennsylvania. Premiums have jumped by an average of 84% in PA-08, 178% in PA-07, and 180% in PA-10 - the largest district-wide average premium increase across the Commonwealth. As of June 1, 2026, 11,715 constituents in Rep. Mackenzie’s district terminated coverage; 10,176 in Rep. Bresnahan’s district; and 9,920 constituents in Rep. Perry’s.

"This report puts numbers behind what we've heard from families across Pennsylvania for months, and it's another blow for people who are doing everything right and still not able to make ends meet," said Rachele Fortier, Executive Director of Affordable Pennsylvania. "Representatives Mackenzie, Bresnahan and Perry have consistently voted for legislation that is causing their constituents to drown in costs. What they need is a lifeline, but they can’t even get a meeting.”

Each congressman’s votes to cut Medicaid and SNAP, combined with their support for cost-raising tariffs and the Iran war, have increased their constituents’ day to day costs substantially, causing an average household increase of $3,201 in each district from 2025 to 2026. For families on Pennie, their votes cost an increase of $3,201 in PA-07 and PA-08, and $6,226 in PA-10.