FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2025
CONTACT: Erica Freeman at freemane@pennpolicy.org
RELEASE: PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES OF A PA CONGRESSMAN’S DECISION
Words vs. actions in opposing cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and the consumer financial protection bureau
Wilkes-Barre, PA—Today, Pennsylvanians Together, state representative Eddie Day Pashinski; Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, executive director of Action Together NEPA; Joanna Bryn Smith, Luzerne County Council; Lois Grimm, a local Medicaid advocate, and citizens of the 8th congressional district gathered for a press conference to elevate the real-world consequences of Republican-proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts for Pennsylvania families. The speakers asked Representative Rob Bresnahan to meet his commitment to protect Medicaid from cuts.
THE ISSUE:
Republicans in DC want to use two strategies to cut Medicaid that they falsely say wouldn’t negatively affect benefits or eligibility.
One is to create work requirements, which is unnecessary because most Medicaid recipients work. Additionally, it is unfair because work requirements only save money by creating red tape, which would prevent eligible recipients from securing benefits.
The other is to reduce federal support for the Medicaid expansion program, which provides health care for 59,400 people in Rep. Bresnahan’s district, including many people with disabilities. It also protects hospitals by reducing uncompensated care by 27.7%, creates jobs in the district, and prevents premature death.
Speakers also talked about the importance of protecting SNAP benefits to the 2 million Pennsylvanians and 144,000 people in Congressional District 8 that receive them. And they pointed to the importance of protect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency that was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crash to do what no one else would, protect people from Wall Street’s greed. Since then, it has won over $21 billion in relief for cheated consumers, cracked down on junk fees, sued the worst financial scammers, and defended working people from fraud and abuse.
REP. EDDIE DAY PASHINSKI:
Rep. Pashinski spoke to the crowd about the critical role Medicaid and SNAP play in not only keeping people healthy and hospitals open but also in affording opportunity to all.
Wilkes-Barre, PA, April 25, 2025
PROTESTERS:
Pro-Trump and pro-Bresnahan protesters attended the event. Stier acknowledged them at the end, and they had the following interchange:
Stier: “Do you know that Congressman Bresnahan has promised to protect Medicaid benefits?”
Audience member: “Yes! We want him to protect Medicaid for American citizens.”
Stier: “Do you want him to do that?”
Audience members: Yes!
Stier: “And you believe he will…”
Audience members: “Yes! Why do you doubt him?”
Stier: “Well, then we’re really all in agreement. You may know him better than I do. And I very much hope you’re right that he will protect Medicaid. But I know that there are Republicans in Washington who want him to vote for cuts to Medicaid benefits some of you receive. We’re afraid they’re bringing enormous pressure on him to do it.
But for now, let’s just wait and see. And I’ll be the first one to praise him if he does what we all want him to do.”
The event ended with Stier and some of the protesters having friendly conversations for another 20 minutes.
PPC and Pennsylvanians Together executive
director Marc Stier records a conversation
with protester Dwayne McDivitt after the press
conference. Wilkes-Barre, PA, April 25, 2025.
To arrange an interview or get more information, contact Erica Freeman, freemane@pennpolicy.org.
QUOTES:
Acknowledging the protesters in the crowd, Representative Eddie Day Pashinski said, “We have people here who disagree with us. I welcome disagreement and discussion. I applaud your involvement and energy.
“But I hope that there are a few things we can agree about as Americans. I hope we can agree that America is the best, richest, and most powerful country in the world. I hope we can agree that one reason America is great is that we provide everyone with the opportunity to get ahead. And programs like Medicaid and SNAP play an important role in making that happen. Sometimes families have problems. Someone loses a job. Or a spouse dies or gets sick. Or someone becomes injured and disabled. That’s when Medicaid and SNAP give families an opportunity to survive, recover, and get back on their feet. Their health recovers thanks to medical care. They get a new job. Then they can contribute to their families and to our economy. That’s what the safety net is for. And it’s one of those things that make America great.
“And the safety net makes us all better off. People who get Medicaid and SNAP spend their money in local doctor’s offices and hospitals and grocery stories. And that keeps them available to all of us.”
“Representative Bresnahan’s constituents deserve the truth, not political talking points,” said Pennylvania Policy Center executive director, Marc Stier. “Voting for a budget resolution with a requirement for the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut 880 billion [dollars] over ten years may not mention Medicaid. But everyone knows that’s where the money will have to come from. The head of the CBO said it before the vote; the chairman of the committee said it after. Claiming that work requirements for Medicaid is designed to increase work, not cut benefits, is false because we know that most Medicaid recipients were already working before they applied for Medicaid. And the evidence of previous work requirement programs shows that the requirements only decrease the amount spent on benefits because the red tape involved prevents people from applying and because the jobs of folks with low incomes, such as those in the fast food industry, are so variable. Do we really want to kick someone off Medicaid because McDonald’s sends them home from work two hours early one week? And pretending that the Medicaid expansion is unnecessary, saying families of three making between $20,815 and $33,994 dollars aren’t struggling, is cruel. I challenge Congressman Bresnahan to look at the 150,000 people in that income bracket who have received health insurance through the expansion and tell them that because they are doing so well, he is justified in taking away their health care safety net so he can give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. What would he say to the twenty people a year in his congressional district who would have died without the Medicaid expansion?”
In Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district, more than 208,181 Pennsylvanians receive health insurance through Medicaid, including 88,717 kids and 29,016 seniors, who rely on the program to reside in nursing homes or assisted living, or to receive in-home care. Statewide, it’s 831,800 people or 28% of all people enrolled statewide. Any policy that undermines Medicaid expansion—including per capita caps or federal matching rate reductions, as well as work requirements would result in coverage losses for people with disabilities and people with serious health conditions such as mental illness, substance use disorders, and cancer and is also likely to impact coverage and access for children too.
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