Cancer survivors, health care advocates rally in Philadelphia to demand Pennsylvania senators reject Medicaid cuts

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

A small crowd of people at the corner of Market and 20th streets in Philadelphia held signs and banners that read “Keep Cancer Care Affordable” and “No Coverage, No Care.”

“No cuts to Medicaid! No cuts to Medicaid!” the protestors shouted.

A coalition of cancer survivors, health care providers, disability advocates, social services organizations and nonprofits rallied outside of Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Dave McCormick’s Philadelphia office to demand that he and other lawmakers reject proposed federal cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program for people with low incomes.

A massive budget bill, named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that proposes cuts and rule changes to several large government-funded programs, including Medicaid, is now before the U.S. Senate following its passage in the House of Representatives last week.

The bill would require states to implement Medicaid work requirements for most childless adults, conduct more frequent eligibility checks based on a person’s income and address and enact cost sharing up to $35 per health service for some adults and care.

President Donald Trump and GOP leaders have said that cuts to Medicaid target what they call waste, fraud and abuse. But local health care providers, patients and advocates say these funding cuts and requirements could directly affect nearly 240,000 Pennsylvanians.

“[The bill] represents the single largest cut to Medicaid ever, marking a clear and dangerous step toward a sicker Pennsylvania,” said Donna Greco, government relations director for Pennsylvania at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Medicaid work requirements and eligibility

Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program, also called Medical Assistance, provides insurance coverage for approximately 3 million people, including one in four adults and 39% of children, according to state data.

Work requirements proposed in the federal budget bill would apply to adults ages 19 to 64. They would have to work at least 80 hours a month and provide documented proof to state agencies in order to stay in the program.

States may have exemptions for people with children and those with disabilities, as well as adults who are sole caregivers, in school or pregnant.

Joanna Rosenhein, of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, said that people will get cut from the program and lose coverage, even when they are meeting the work and income requirements, because of issues with missing or incomplete documentation and paperwork.

“Most people on Medicaid are already working,” Rosenheim said. “The rest are either caregivers, students, people with disabilities or severe health conditions, and those people will be at risk of losing their coverage because of paperwork requirements.”

Processing additional paperwork and carrying out more eligibility checks and renewals would fall to the states.

“The state is already overwhelmed,” she said, “and this will only add to their burden.”

Alisha Gillespie, of Chester, Pennsylvania, called the proposed cuts and requirements “inhumane” and said it would have been “impossible” to comply when she had Medicaid last year while battling breast cancer and raising three children.

“[There were] days that I couldn’t even get out of bed to make dinner, to even go to the bathroom,” she said. “So, I can’t imagine having even a part-time job to even try to make ends meet for surgeries or any type of treatment.”

Pennsylvania senators on Medicaid cuts

Now in recovery, Gillespie said she wants lawmakers to know how important access to Medicaid insurance is for many people across the commonwealth.

“If I didn’t have Medicaid, I wouldn’t have been able to survive,” she said. “I think people need to really consider other people and what they’re going through before they make decisions that can impact everybody.”

The Senate will vote on its own version of a budget bill and lawmakers say it’ll likely differ from the House version. Then, if passed, both chambers must merge the pieces of legislation into a final, reconciled bill with a second approval from members of Congress before it goes to the president.

In recent interviews and remarks, McCormick has said that there is “out-of-control spending” in the Medicaid program.

“Senator Dave McCormick has made it clear he will protect the Medicaid benefits of the vulnerable populations for whom the program was designed,” a spokesperson told WHYY in a statement. “He also supports a work requirement for able-bodied beneficiaries, opposes providing the benefit to illegal immigrants, and supports eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse from a program that is expanding at an unsustainable rate.”

The Republican senator and his staff met with members of the American Cancer Society and disability rights activists Wednesday before the rally. A spokesperson said they’ve also met with doctors, hospital administrators, clinic staff, patient advocacy groups and others across Pennsylvania “to hear their feedback on issues affecting them to inform his legislative priorities.”

Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman has previously stated that he “will never support any bill that strips Medicaid, Medicare or SNAP benefits from Americans to bankroll tax cuts for billionaires.”

Philadelphia resident and activist Denise Ripley said she hopes lawmakers will do what’s in the best interest of their constituents.

“This is not an entitlement,” Ripley said of Medicaid health insurance. “It’s an investment. You should invest in your people.”