Philadelphia, PA – May 19, 2025 – Last week, Senator Vincent Hughes, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, 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 that were proposed by Congressional Republicans. 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.
“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,” said Senator Hughes.
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.
Senator Hughes explained, “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.”
News broke last 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.
“Often times Medicaid is stigmatized, but the reality is that this care is necessary and its supportive of our communities. We have the right to health.” said Danielle Brooks, Director of Quality Health Equity, AmeriHealth Caritas. “These proposed cuts have the potential to make access and affordability worse. We need to make sure we are able to offer quality health services at all stages of a person’s life.”
As of this morning, the cuts passed the Congressional House Budget Committee. According to Reuters, a possible vote on passage in the House of Representatives could take place later this week.
Senator Art Haywood said, “We haven’t lost yet. There is a fight that we need to engage in, and this conversation will help us in that fight. We cannot surrender before the fight is over.”
A full video of the roundtable is available online. Roundtable participants included:
- Senator Vincent Hughes, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair
- Senator Art Haywood, Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee
- Senator Sharif Street, Chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee
- Devon Trolley, Executive Director of Pennie
- Reverend Alyn Waller, Senior Pastor, Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church
- Reverend Leroy Miles, Associate Pastor or Pastoral Care and Counseling, Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church
- Healthcare Leaders and Advocates
- Dr. Argie Allen-Wilson, Co-Founder & Chief Clinical Officer – Mental Health First Connects Inc
- Donna Bailey, CEO of Community Behavioral Health
- Dr. Denise Baker, Pediatrician, Jefferson Health
- Jim Baker, Chair of the Mayor’s Drug and Alcohol Commission, Interim President of the Hospital and Higher Education Facilities Authority, and Board Member for the Directors of Eagleville Hospital
- Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, Professor, Clinical Family Medicine & Community Health, Perelman School of Medicine
- Farida Boyer, Executive Director and Co-founder, Black Brain Campaign Association
- Ayana Bradshaw, President and CEO, AccessMatters
- Danielle Brooks, Director of Quality Health Equity, AmeriHealth Caritas
- Dionne Gary, President, District 1199C NUHHCE
- Katherine Levins, Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs, Temple Health
- Dr. Michael Luke, Pediatric Hospital Medicine fellow, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Dr. Priscilla Mpasi, Pediatrician; Board Trustee, National Medical Association; Medical Director, Delaware Medicaid Partners (ACO)
- Dr. Ala Stanford, Founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, Professor at University of Pennsylvania, Former HHS Regional Director
###