Opinion: It’s time to Washington-proof your health care

Philadelphia native and broadcasting legend Jim McKay once said, “Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.”

Sadly, our worst fears of 2025 are being realized.

Radical, nonsensical tariffs have led to skyrocketing prices.

Retirement savings are taking a hit as the stock market plummets in response to the brazen arbitrariness of those tariffs and, to a lesser extent, the metastasizing uncertainty and own goals coming from the Oval Office.

Our economy is grinding to a halt, as more families struggle to pay their bills, local and major businesses are laying off workers, and economists predict a recession.

And right-wing extremist actions from Washington – like cruel immigration policies and massive, indiscriminate firings executed by a tech billionaire – are only expected to slow down our economy further, hurting both families and businesses.

And while Pennsylvanians are already struggling with high costs, Washington is planning to make massive health care cuts to Medicaid.

Their latest plan is to cut $880 billion from  Medicaid – a program millions of Pennsylvanians rely on to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

I’m a nurse and I know how important Medicaid is. When President Obama enacted the Affordable Care Act, which expanded Medicaid, our local health center reduced its uninsured rate from 25% to under 10%. We went from hosting GoFundMe campaigns to help people afford cancer treatments to getting folks covered with life-saving health care. Not having to constantly eat health care costs allowed the health center to focus on expanding mental health care, substance use treatment and maternal health services. That goes away with cuts to Medicaid.

Medicaid cuts mean millions of children and adults will lose their health care, including kids who will lose access to special education services in school.

Medicaid cuts mean longer wait times and delays in seeing your primary care.

Medicaid cuts mean that health care institutions will have to close their doors permanently.

Our region cannot afford to lose any more hospitals and emergency rooms – not to mention the health centers, outpatient centers, nursing homes and home care agencies that rely on Medicaid funding.

On a state level, we are doing everything we can to keep Pennsylvania’s health and wellness on track. When Washington froze $2.1 billion in money – our tax dollars – meant to ensure health and safety, Gov. Josh Shapiro worked to help unfreeze them and bring them home. He presented the legislature with a budget investing $2.55 billion into Medicaid to ensure health care providers are being fairly paid for caring for patients. He is also taking steps to hire the most skilled federal workers thoughtlessly cast aside by unelected tech billionaire Elon Musk.

And our Pennsylvania House Democratic majority in Harrisburg is working closely with Gov. Shapiro to keep Pennsylvania moving in the right direction.

As nursing homes brace for radical cuts in medical assistance that will force many to close their doors, state Rep. Ryan Bizzaro is proposing to ensure that nursing home residents are getting a fair share of state dollars to pay for their care.

And as right-wing factions in Washington attempt once again to kill the popular Affordable Care Act, which has saved countless lives and guaranteed health care benefits and protections to millions of Americans, we acted last week to codify some of the key provisions of the law here in Pennsylvania, including my bill with state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, HB 404, which keeps kids covered under their parents' health care up to age 26. This means that kids who are starting their lives after high school and college won’t face bankruptcy and a lifetime of debt because they got sick. And because young adults are generally healthy, they are great for the health of insurance markets and save hospitals and taxpayers from unreimbursed costs if they do get sick. We also have bills to protect people with pre-existing conditions, require health insurance policies to cover preventive health care services without cost-sharing and stop insurance executives from imposing annual or lifetime limit caps. 

The prescription is simple: Health care coverage should protect people – not insurance companies.  

These are commonsense provisions, and we passed all these bills with unanimous Democratic support through the state House. These are things we can do on the state level.

As lawmakers, while we can’t stop the insanity coming out of Washington, we can work to protect your rights and preserve and increase the commonwealth’s support for the vital programs and services that will make our community a stronger, safer and healthier place.

And never forget: Lawmakers work for you. I believe things will improve, but that won't happen if people do not raise their concerns to our federal elected officials about the policies that hurt our families. 

While our worst fears have begun to materialize, I remain hopeful and have faith in our country's strength and democracy. The collective role of the people is more powerful than the singular role of an elected official. As President Abraham Lincoln said right here in Pennsylvania during his Gettysburg Address, "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."