Affordable PA Calls on the PA Congressmen to Fight for Lower Costs As We Enter the Holiday Season

November 26, 2025

PENNSYLVANIA - Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Affordable Pennsylvania urges Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry to stand up to Trump on tariffs, sign onto the ACA discharge petition that would extend marketplace health care tax credits for three more years, and reverse their cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

“As we enter this holiday season amid rising costs of everyday goods, lapsing benefits, and an impending health care cliff, Congressmen Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry have continued to make excuses about why they aren’t standing with the working families they represent and fighting for lower costs,” said Rachele Fortier, executive director of Affordable Pennsylvania. “Enough is enough - it’s time for these representatives to take significant action to make life more affordable for their constituents. They can start by extending these health care tax credits for at least three more years, opposing Trump’s extreme tariffs, and restoring funding for the assistance programs they voted to gut this summer.”

These congressmen have all voted twice for funding packages that do not include an extension of the 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 them, monthly premiums for Pennie enrollees have increased by 102% on average.

Congressmen Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry also voted for historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the Republican Tax Law, devastating health care and threatening the very fate of federal food assistance in the Commonwealth, and have supported Trump’s tariffs that are raising costs for working families, small businesses, and American consumers.

Read more about how these policies are jacking up costs for working families this holiday season:

The Century Foundation: A Pricier Plate: Thanksgiving Costs Climb Nearly 10% This Year

• The price of a Thanksgiving dinner will be more expensive this year under President Trump, with a full meal up 9.8 percent compared to last year, more than triple the overall rate of inflation.

• Some staples will run families over 20 percent more than last year’s prices, including onions (56 percent), spiral hams (49 percent), cranberry sauce (22 percent), and creamed corn (21 percent).

• These price hikes come as new Data for Progress polling shows that nearly two-thirds of people are stressed about Thanksgiving prices, with 37 percent saying they plan to buy fewer items and one-quarter saying they are planning smaller gatherings to afford the holiday.

• Another 14 percent say they will forgo typical travel and more than one in ten say they will skip the holiday entirely.

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