When We Fight, We Win
Senator Hughes brought together lawmakers and leaders at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church to discuss how Republican health insurance cuts could impact Black Pennsylvanians
This week, Senator Vincent Hughes held a roundtable at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church with lawmakers and healthcare leaders to discuss how Black Pennsylvanians could be impacted by proposed health insurance cuts to Medicaid, CHIP, and the Affordable Care Act that were proposed by Congressional Republicans earlier this week.
“We need to be informed, we need to be educated, and we need to be brutally honest about what these federal cuts could mean for the Black community.”
– Senator Hughes
The group of roundtable participants represented the health insurance sector, hospital systems, mental health services, the clergy, doctors, and unions.
This was the second roundtable Senator Hughes has hosted in the past month, to bring decision makers and stakeholders together to determine how federal health insurance cuts could impact Pennsylvania’s health ecosystem and residents.
In Pennsylvania, about 3 million people- almost 1 in 4 Pennsylvanians- are covered by Medicaid and CHIP. Almost 20% of those Pennsylvanians on Medicaid are Black. And all Americans have benefited from provisions in the Affordable Care Act that make health insurance accessible and less expensive.
News broke this week that Republicans were moving forward with their plan to cut Medicaid by implementing work requirements and a more complicated process for recipients to verify their eligibility. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the Republican Medicaid cuts would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under Medicaid and 7.6 million people going uninsured.
As of Friday, House Republicans failed to push their big package of tax breaks and spending cuts through the Budget Committee. We need to keep raising our voices.
“We must have a voice in this conversation. We are the principals and founders of the expansion in health insurance- it was President Obama who made the Affordable Care Act happened. And I, along with Senators Haywood and Street and our Democratic colleagues, led the effort in Harrisburg to fully expand Medicaid in Pennsylvania. Millions of people across the country and in Pennsylvania have benefited from having health insurance that is affordable, accessible, and high quality because of our work.”
– Senator Hughes
A full video of the roundtable is available online.
Now more than ever, it’s important to call your US Senators and Representative and tell them- Fight for our healthcare, Fight for our communities!
Senator Fetterman: 215-241-1090
Senator McCormick: 215-405-9660
US House of Representatives: 202-225-3121