Dear Neighbors,

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

Sadly, our worst fears of 2025 are being realized.

Radical tariffs have led to skyrocketing prices.

Retirement savings are taking a hit as the stock market plummets.

A stagnating economy has led to more families struggling to pay their bills, local businesses to consider layoffs, and economists to predict a recession.

And extremist actions from Washington— like cruel immigration policies and massive firings from a tech billionaire— are only expected to slow down our economy further, hurting both families and businesses.

Americans are feeling less hopeful, more divided, and more frustrated with the priorities from Washington.

But while Philadelphians 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 (ACA), which expanded Medicaid, our local health center reduced its uninsured rate from 25% to under 10%.

We went from hosting GoFundMe to help people afford cancer treatments to getting folks covered with lifesaving health care. Not having to constantly eat health care costs allowed the health center to focus on expanding mental health, substance use treatment, and maternal health services. That goes away with Medicaid cuts.

Medicaid cuts mean millions of children and adults losing their healthcare, including kids losing access to special ed services in school.

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

And Medicaid cuts mean healthcare institutions will have to permanently close their doors.

Our neighborhoods cannot afford to lose any more hospitals and emergency rooms—not to mention the health centers, outpatient centers, nursing homes, 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, Governor Josh Shapiro worked to help unfreeze them and bring them home. He presented the legislature a budget investing $2.55 billion into Medicaid to ensure healthcare 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 the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Image: With Governor Shapiro last year at the Governor’s residence

And our Pennsylvania House Democratic majority in Harrisburg is working closely with Governor 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, PA Rep. Ryan Bizzaro (D-Erie) is proposing to ensure that nursing homes residents are getting a fair share of state dollars to pay for their care.

And as Washington attempts to kill the popular Affordable Care Act (ACA) which has saved countless lives and guaranteed health care benefits and protections to countless Americans, yesterday we acted to codify four of the key provisions of the ACA!

That includes my bill with 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 a 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.

Image: Standing with my colleagues yesterday following the PA House’s passage of our bills protecting healthcare

We also passed 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.

Because healthcare coverage should protect people— not insurance companies.

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

If you are concerned about Washington, please call federal representatives and make your voice heard. You can contact the main U.S. House of Representatives number at 202-225-3121, and the Senate at 202-224-3121.

You can also download the "5 calls app" on your phone, which makes it easy to call and even provides a script of what you can tell these officials' staff about various issues.

As your state rep., while I 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.

Image: Standing with picketing nurses this winter outside of Chestnut Hill Hospital

And never forget that lawmakers work for you. I believe things will improve, but that won't happen if people do not raise their concerns 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 because there are more constituents than electeds.

Another famous historical quote also rings true at this moment, and it was said here in Pennsylvania by former President Abraham Lincoln—"government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”