U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan said Friday that he’s in favor of extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
“I don't feel proper in ripping the rug out from underneath people that are already struggling economically and from an affordability perspective. I think we need to approach it twofold. I think we need to extend the subsidies for one year the way it is, also then we need to get to work and figure out a legislative, real solution, real reform,” Bresnahan said.
Bresnahan was accompanied by Mehmet Oz, also known by his television persona ‘Dr. Oz’, who now serves as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator in President Donald Trump's administration. The pair visited Geisinger in Scranton for a roundtable discussion with local health leaders, which was closed to press.
Their visit was one of two high profile visits to the region today. Sen. Dave McCormick visited the Wyoming County Healthcare Center in Tunkhannock to tour the facility and meet executive leadership. The Center reopened in 2024 after being closed by Commonwealth Health Systems in 2022.
This story will be updated with coverage of McCormick's afternoon visit, which wrapped up a short time ago.
Healthcare affordability
KFF found that healthcare costs could more than double for enrollees in the ACA should the tax credits expire.
The government shutdown ended in mid-November without the credits being extended.
“I'm one of the original co-sponsors of the bipartisan problem solvers, caucus rendition that was to extend for one year with the current parameters,” Bresnahan said. “Right now, we are looking at the best available option. We are certainly going to be supportive of extending those credits, but obviously legislatively, we need to have a product that ultimately gets across the finish line.”
Democrats in the Senate plan to force a vote on a three-year expansion of the tax credits next week.
Rural Health Transformation Fund
During a press conference after the closed roundtable, Dr. Oz and Bresnahan discussed the Rural Health Transformation Fund.
The Fund will provide $50 billion to states over five years, starting in 2026, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Applications were due in November, and awards decisions will be released on Dec. 31.
According to KFF, half the fund will be distributed evenly, and CMS will decide how to distribute the remaining funds based on states’ applications.
CMS wanted states to address five goals with their applications: Make rural America healthy again, sustainable access, workforce, innovative care and technological innovation.
“We didn't want to just give the money out and hope it works. We purposely put strings attached. So if you promise to do certain things and you don't do them, you should be penalized. However, if you do those things, and other states don't do what they promise to do, you're going to get their money. So there's an upside and there's a downside. All we're asking is do what you promised you were going to do,” Oz said.
Pennsylvania’s proposal would award the state $200 million a year for a total of $1 billion over five years if approved by the federal government. The state released its full proposal after submission.
The future of NEPA’s healthcare landscape
Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, CEO of The Wright Center, joined the congressman and Dr. Oz for the roundtable. Also involved in the discussion were Wayne Memorial Hospital's CEO James Pettinato, Pike County commissioners Ronald Schmalzle and Matt Osterberg.
“We have a really complex debacle in front of us, which is American healthcare,” Thomas-Hemak said. “The solutions for that are going to be when we have proximity between the oversight and authority of the federal government and the generosity of administrator Oz, who's willing to come to Northeastern Pennsylvania compliments of an invitation that [Rep. Bresnahan] extended, living your responsibility to the people of northeastern Pennsylvania, and that it was a really powerful discussion and gathering of individual stakeholders who, in order to get to the preferred future, are going to need to demonstrate unprecedented collaboration beyond the walls of our own institution.”
Thomas-Hemak earlier this year expressed concern over the changes to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which Bresnahan voted for and ultimately became law. She said today’s conversation with the congressman and Dr. Oz helped assuage some of her concerns.
“Real change is challenging, and that in order to fix these complex problems, we're going to need to have really hard conversations, and the good news is from what I witnessed in that room, the federal government and our legislators have the bravery and courage to shepherd those conversations, but with incredible compassion for what it means for people and humanity and providers and communities, and so we know big changes are coming, but we have faith that there's good people overseeing the changes,” she said.
“Change is coming, and with real change comes some pain, but it's less painful if we're all in it together as Americans,” she continued.
Check back for updates.
