Ciresi, Friel town hall with Pottstown NAACP highlights negative impact of federal budget cuts, delayed state budget on Pennsylvania
Southeast Delegation October 16, 2025 | 12:06 PM
POTTSTOWN, Oct. 16 – State Reps. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, and Paul Friel, D-Chester, last night held a town hall with the NAACP’s Pottstown chapter.
“Democracy was in action last night at the Pottstown town hall,” Ciresi said. “I was invigorated to see such passionate community engagement and thoughtful and respectful debate about how the federal and state budgets are having an impact on people’s lives.”
Many of the audience questions concerned the impact that cuts and changes to SNAP and Medicaid would have on them and their communities.
“Medicaid and SNAP have provided life-saving health care and put food on the tables of low-income Pennsylvanians for decades,” Ciresi said. “As a result of the federal budget cuts and changes to these programs, 5,914 people will lose Medicaid and 1,024 will lose SNAP in Chester County. Here in Montgomery County, 12,009 individuals will lose Medicaid and 2,336 will lose SNAP. In Pottstown alone, 1,662 people will lose Medicaid and 746 will lose SNAP.
“These changes and cuts could not come at a worse time for our communities struggling with overburdened healthcare systems and rising food insecurity. Medicaid and SNAP have helped to stabilize our communities and support our economic growth. With more people in our communities living on the edge due to these cuts and changes, life will become unstable for us all. No one will be untouched by this devastation – not our families, not our schools, not our hospitals. No one except for the billionaires made even richer by the federal budget.”
The audience expressed concern that the cost of their insurance would go up if the federal budget didn’t extend the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits, which are set to expire this year. Premiums are expected to roughly double, on average, for the 24 million people enrolled in plans under the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, according to The New York Times.
“The economy is very tough for everyone right now, with flatlined salaries unable to meet the rising cost of living,” Ciresi said. “When premiums go up, it is expected that healthier people will drop their insurance, and insurance companies will in turn raise premiums even more for those still insured who are more likely to get sick and need expensive health care. These premium hikes will have an especially devasting impact on our seniors.”
The 496,000 customers of Pennsylvania’s healthcare marketplace, Pennie, will see their premiums rise by 21%, on average, with some rising to 38%, according to WHYY.
"The healthcare system in American was already convoluted and broken,” Friel said. “Now we add Republicans at the federal level who decide to increase costs, reduce coverage and squeeze patients even more. We are looking at a real reckoning on health and how we deliver care.
“We need to wise up, but I don't believe we have enough people willing to put patient care over politics yet. I think it is going to get worse before enough political and medical industry leaders will be willing to make some of the transformative changes we need.”
“We’ve got a rainy day fund for a reason,” Ciresi said. “And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s going to start hailing outside soon. We need to act now to support our people and our economy since Trump and the Republicans in Congress won’t.
“As they are at the federal level, so the Republicans in the State House are holding up our budget, depriving our schools, our municipalities and our safety net programs of necessary funding. The House just passed our third, bipartisan state budget last week and the Senate Republicans are nowhere to be found. It’s time for them to show some leadership and get back to the table. The people of Pennsylvania can’t afford to wait for them any longer,” he said.