Health care advocates assembled Tuesday to express dismay over federal Medicaid funding cuts in the works.
Around two dozen nursing home caregivers, providers and health care advocates gathered on a rainy morning under a gazebo behind Dunmore Health Care Center, 1000 Mill St., Dunmore, to present deep concerns around the cuts and to remind U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., to “do the right thing” by voting against cuts that would disproportionally affect Northeast Pennsylvania.
Matt Yarnell, the president of SEIU Healthcare, a statewide health care union, addressed a wide range of frustrations amid a bevy of statistics.
Certified Nursing Assistant Lucy Hurst speaks to a crowd outside of the Dunmore Health Care Center Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Nursing Home Administrator for the Saber Healthcare Group Lori Steeves speaks to the media outside of the Dunmore Health Care Center Tuesday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Union members and healthcare professionals gather to rally against proposed Medicaid cuts outside of Dunmore Health Care Center Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
“Medicaid cuts could result in a loss of $3.4 billion in funding to our state annually, ripping health care coverage from vulnerable Pennsylvanians, and causing the closure of nursing homes, of home care services and rural hospitals, and other essential programs across the commonwealth,” Yarnell said. “At a time when the state’s population is older, sicker and needs more care than ever before, the last thing we need is funding cuts.”
Yarnell shared a barrage of facts and figures, including that 78% of all Medicaid spending goes toward senior care, and 63% of nursing home funding comes from Medicaid, providing care for 67,000 Pennsylvanians. Additionally, he stated that 208,000 residents in the 8th Congressional District rely on Medicaid, with at least 25% of residents in the district under the age of 65 depending on Medicaid.
“This is a matter of life and death,” he said.
Lori Steeves, a nursing home administrator with Saber Healthcare Group, said nursing homes are already “hanging on by a thread” due to under-funding.
“We are constantly forced to make hard choices, while we work to ensure safe staffing for our residents and the recruitment and retention of employees,” Steeves explained. “There is zero excess or wiggle room for Pennsylvania nursing homes.”
Over the past five years, 30 nursing homes have closed across Pennsylvania, with two in the last 12 months locally, Steeves said, explaining that closures cause “havoc and chaos,” and accentuating the difficulties family members, communities, residents and staff of facilities face.
“These jobs are tough, physically, mentally and emotionally,” Steeves said. “It takes a special kind of person to work in a nursing home, so it is very challenging to find and keep staff at a time when our state’s population is older and sicker than ever before in history,” she added, explaining that nursing homes need more funding resources and support to meet these kinds of challenges than previously.
Steeves also addressed Bresnahan directly.
“The nursing home providers of Pennsylvania want to send this message,” she said to the congressman. “We have been inspired by your courage to stand up for Medicaid funding for your district and for all Americans. We are calling on you, urging you in the strongest way possible to stay the course, vote down these catastrophic cuts. Continue standing up for seniors, people with disabilities, small businesses, and the future health and economic prosperity for Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Lucy Hurst, the union president at Dunmore Health Care Center and a nursing assistant for “almost 50 years,” cited “the terrible Medicaid cut” and shared enthusiasm for her work and the people she helps.
“I love my residents,” she said. “We go above and beyond for them. This is their home.”
Hurst explained that her sister lives in a care facility in Wilkes-Barre.
“I can’t imagine telling her, ‘You have to leave,’” Hurst said, adding that moving residents out of care due to funding cuts would be detrimental. “The sad thing is, they’re gonna die. … It makes me angry, really angry, that politicians are treating seniors and their loved ones with disabilities like they don’t have any value to their life. It’s all about greed,” Hurst said.
Yarnell ended the gathering by asking anyone listening to make a phone call to their representatives. He added that “fraud and abuse” are not relevant arguments for the actions of Congress.
“This program is a very regulated program. It’s very hard for people to get on Medicaid,” Yarnell said. “We live in the richest country on the planet. The last thing that anybody, elected president or Congress, should be doing right now is figuring out how to transfer more to the wealthiest people in this country and leaving the rest of us behind.”