Joint Economic Committee Report: State-by-State Cost Data: Families Spent Over $1,600 More in 2025 Due to Inflation Under Trump

January 26, 2026

PENNSYLVANIA —  Despite promises from Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry to lower costs for working families, a new report from the Joint Economic Committee found that Pennsylvanians paid an average of $1,734 more last year for necessities like housing, food, clothing, health care, transportation, and utilities.

“As a nurse, I saw patients everyday who relied on Medicaid for routine care. And as a cancer survivor, I know how critical regular screenings and early detection are to positive outcomes. The Medicaid cuts that Congressman Bresnahan voted for last year will be disastrous for the people of NEPA,” said Denise Parashac, a retired nurse in Plains. “With costs continuing to rise, most people can’t afford to pay out of pocket. Losing Medicaid means losing access to care that could be life-saving, as it was for me. It is the difference between a survivable diagnosis and one that comes too late. Congressman Bresnahan must reverse his cuts to Medicaid for the well-being of his constituents and fight for lower costs for the NEPA community.”

Last year, Congressmen Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry voted to raise the cost of health care, utilities, and groceries on working families to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. Each congressman voted for the Republican Tax Law, which makes historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that are devastating health care and threatening the very fate of federal food assistance in the Commonwealth.

Further raising health care costs, they voted twice for funding packages that do not include an extension of expiring health care tax credits that keep care affordable for tens of thousands of their constituents. Nearly half a million Pennsylvanians used Pennsylvania’s marketplace to get their health insurance this year, including over 20,000 constituents in each Congressman’s district who benefit from these tax credits. Without these tax credits, health care costs have skyrocketed for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth - monthly premiums for Pennie enrollees have increased by 102% on average.

The congressmen have also voted four times to support cost-raising tariffs, which economists estimate will cost families an additional $2,300 per year. These tariffs have skyrocketed the cost of essentials such as food and pharmaceutical drugs.

Affordable Pennsylvania urges these representatives to reverse their cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, stand up to Trump on tariffs, and work to take meaningful action to lower costs for Pennsylvania families in 2026.

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