PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA – Ahead of a pivotal Senate vote TODAY to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, PASNAP Executive Board Members, representing more than 11,000 nurses and allied professionals from across the commonwealth, warn, in the linked video above: Failure to extend ACA subsidies will trigger a statewide healthcare and economic crisis—one that will affect every patient, every family, and every hospital in the Commonwealth.
If Congress fails to act to restore enhanced premium subsidies for insurance bought through the Affordable Care Act marketplace (Pennie), care in Pennsylvania will be utterly destabilized as the cost of healthcare explodes.
Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians – including laboring mothers, trauma victims, those fighting life-threatening disease – will be unable to afford the increases and will lose access to critical, life-saving care.
With deep cuts to Medicaid looming as well, this crisis is coming. At the bedside, we are already seeing the signs.
PASNAP EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS FEATURED IN THE VIDEO
Maureen May, RN, PASNAP President
Robert Bozek, MSN, RN, PASNAP Board Member at Large
Debbi Bozeman, RN, PASNAP Board Member at Large
Phyllis Brown, RN, PASNAP Board Member at Large
Peggy Malone, RN, PASNAP Board Member at Large
***VIDEO MESSAGE***
[Maureen May, RN]
I’m Maureen May, a registered nurse for more than 40 years.
As the president of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, I represent 11,000 frontline healthcare workers across Pennsylvania.
I’m here with members of our statewide Executive Board to talk about a decision Congress is making right now that will directly affect whether Pennsylvanians can afford health insurance — and whether hospitals across our state can keep their doors open.
At the end of this year – in just 3 weeks – the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits are set to expire.
If Congress votes to allow that to happen, health insurance premiums will double for many working families in Pennsylvania. People will see increases of hundreds — often more than a thousand dollars — per month.
Many will have no choice but to drop coverage entirely. Already, many thousands of
people in Pennsylvania have dropped coverage.
This is not a Democratic or Republican issue. Whatever district you live in, we all want affordable health care, and we all want hospitals that are funded.
[Robert Bozek, MSN, RN]
I’m Robert Bozek. I’ve been a critical care nurse for over 16 years.
Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange estimates that if the ACA subsidies are not extended, 150,000 Pennsylvanians will lose insurance. As a nurse, I want to be very clear about what that means.
When people lose insurance, they don’t stop getting sick. They delay care. They skip medications. They wait until problems become emergencies.
That care doesn’t disappear — it moves into emergency rooms and hospitals, where it is more expensive, more dangerous, and often unpaid.
[Debbi Bozeman, RN]
I’m Debbi Bozeman. I have been a medical/surgical trauma nurse since 2013.
At the same time Congress is debating whether to extend ACA tax credits, Medicaid cuts have already been approved to go into effect next year.
Hospitals in Pennsylvania are currently underfunded. Medicaid reimbursements already fall significantly short of the cost of care, and that gap will grow even larger with the planned cuts. Hospitals are being forced to make impossible decisions, and in our hospitals, we are already seeing the warning signs:
Beds are closing.
Units are shutting down.
Hospitals are being sold or consolidated.
When a hospital closes, a community loses more than a facility.
They lose emergency care.
They lose maternity services.
They lose behavioral health care.
They lose jobs and economic stability.
This is how healthcare deserts are created — and once access is lost, it is incredibly difficult to restore.
[Phyllis Brown, RN]
I’m Phyllis Brown.
This is why failing to extend ACA tax credits right now is so dangerous.
The ACA credits aren’t a bonus. They’re a stabilizing force — especially while Medicaid funding is also being cut.
[Peggy Malone, RN]
I’m Peggy Malone. I’m a registered nurse for 37 years.
We are urging Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — to act now: Extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Protect our patients. And protect our hospitals.
This is about access to care.
This is about hospital stability.
And this is about preventing a crisis that is already taking shape.
Because when coverage is lost and hospitals close, every single one of us pays the price.
***
The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), represents more than 11,000 frontline nurses and healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania. PASNAP was founded 25 years ago because patients do better when critical care staff have a voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.
