Pennsylvanians are hurting because of the federal shutdown

Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus    October 30, 2025 | 9:38 AM

Some GOP lawmakers have claimed they don’t know much about the impact of the federal shutdown on Pennsylvania or about how the changes to SNAP and Medicaid have affected their constituents.

Well, as state representatives for the 49th and 96th legislative districts in Lancaster, let us share what we’ve heard from our constituents at a Medicaid and SNAP Town Hall this week about the hardships they are experiencing and the terror they are feeling if the federal shutdown continues much longer. (It should be noted that all Lancaster-area state lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, were invited to this important discussion with residents but only state Sen. James Malone joined.)

Our constituents told us that they’re not just worried about where their next meal is coming from when SNAP benefits end in early November, but they also don’t know what they are going to do when the supportive services associated with the program dry up, from transportation services, which gets them to their jobs, to extra clothing, to child care (extended through December, but no one knows what will happen in January).

We heard about the transportation deserts in some areas of the county that make it impossible to get to work or a community food pantry, about the language barriers that make it difficult for people to fill out paperwork or to understand critical changes to these essential programs.

One constituent who doesn’t have his GED told us he does not qualify for many jobs. What will happen to him?

Life was already not easy for these residents. Now they are just locked into survival mode, which makes success finding a job or going to class an even greater struggle than before. 

As a result of Medicaid and SNAP cuts and changes: 3,942 people will lose Medicaid and 1,636 will lose SNAP benefits in our two legislative districts.

The Commonwealth cannot backfill these costs for the 23,456 residents in our two districts who still qualify for and depend on SNAP.

Understand this: SNAP and Medicaid recipients are hardworking people. The only thing that they have against them is that they are poor.

And Republicans aren’t just targeting the poor, but the middle class too by refusing to preserve the Affordable Care Act subsidies and tax credits.

More than a half million Pennsylvanians depend on our state ACA exchange, Pennie, to get quality, affordable health insurance. Their premiums will already go up nearly 22% this year as Congress allows the expiration of COVID-era tax credits.

Worse, Congressional Republicans already passed President Trump's bill to remove all federal support for the ACA, kicking the cost to our constituents and neighbors. The average Pennsylvanian’s health insurance bill will go up by 208% -- from an average of $279 a month to $860 a month, per person (Urban Institute).

And, no, the Commonwealth cannot backfill the lost federal subsidies and tax credits either.

Medical debt is already the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy in America.

If the Republican Congress doesn’t extend ACA subsidies and tax credits, thousands of Pennsylvanians will go broke because they got sick, got injured, or just got old. 

They’ll be forced to choose between paying for their medical bills or groceries, or heat, or a roof over their heads.

People will be forced to cancel their insurance, and reimbursements to doctors and hospitals will drop. 

Thousands of people without health insurance will turn to our overwhelmed emergency rooms for medical care – which they won’t be able to afford – and the hospitals will have to eat the cost.

Under financial duress, hospitals will close, thousands of health care workers will lose their jobs, and many Pennsylvanians will have to travel farther for medical care.

The health care industry, which today makes up one-sixth of PA’s economy and is a $175 billion-per-year economic driver, will take a definite hit, which will ripple throughout Pennsylvania in lost jobs, reduced consumerism and even more strained social services.

So, to GOP lawmakers: thousands of Pennsylvanians are already going hungry and have lost health care due to your party’s punitive federal budget. Nearly 2 million more Pennsylvanians will go hungry if you don’t fund the government by November. And half a million Pennsylvanians are waking up in the middle of the night terrified about how they are going to pay for health care if you don’t preserve ACA subsidies.

That’s what’s happening in Pennsylvania.