The more than 800,000 Pennsylvanians who rely on local Community Health Centers could face new barriers to care if proposed Medicaid cuts approved by the U.S. House become law.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 8 million Americans could lose coverage in the next decade, including nearly 3 million in Pennsylvania.

Aimee Wechsler, director of government affairs at the Wright Center for Community Health, said its 13 clinics serve people regardless of insurance or ability to pay. She pointed out Medicaid connects their patients to everything from school-based health screenings to addiction treatment and mental health services.

"Nearly half of our patients here are Medicaid or dually eligible, so it's a huge part of our patients that we serve," Wechsler noted. "Because community health centers, including the Wright Center, serve a large portion of Medicaid patients, any cuts to Medicaid funding could seriously jeopardize the primary care safety net and limit access to care for those folks."

Wechsler added The Wright Center clinics see more than 35,000 patients a year in northeastern Pennsylvania. Data show Community Health Centers receive just 5 to 7 percent of overall health spending. The budget bill is now in the U.S. Senate.

Wechsler stressed Medicaid supports the state's labor market and plays a key role in stabilizing the health care ecosystem.

"Just in Pennsylvania alone, Medicaid expansion has created and sustained over 61,000 jobs," Wechsler emphasized. "This is in hospitals, nursing homes and Community Health Centers, like the Wright Center. Cuts to Medicaid would also affect those jobs."

Joe Dunn, chief policy officer for the National Association of Community Health Centers, said Medicaid funds 40% of health centers and covers half their patients, which means more than 32 million people nationwide would be affected by funding cuts.

"We serve one in five Medicaid beneficiaries nationally," Dunn explained. "Oftentimes, our health center patients are lower income, so 90% of our patients are below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Any kind of changes to a vital program like Medicaid could have a significant impact."

He added the clinics end up saving money, since they reduce people's use of higher-cost options like hospital emergency rooms.

A Michigan mayor is back from Tampa, Florida, after attending a national gathering of nearly 200 city leaders.

The 93rd Annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors brought together leaders from across the country to share solutions on everything from housing to public safety.

Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich said it was a valuable chance to learn from other cities and bring fresh ideas back home to the Great Lakes State.

She said a top priority for her city is a new senior center - but that plan is threatened by federal cuts.

"Under the proposed reconciliation bill, tax-exempt municipal bonds will be taken off the table," said Rich. "This sort of thing would have a big impact on how much it would cost our residents to build the next senior center."

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The 94th Annual conference is set for June 2026 in Long Beach, California.

Mayors representing urban, rural, and suburban communities attended. With more than 85% of Americans living in metro areas, mayors say they're on the frontlines of today's biggest challenges.

Rich said public safety remains a major challenge for city leaders - and she said she believes housing goes hand in hand with it.

"Making sure that there is access to housing," said Rich, "across all spectrums of income is of critical importance."

On Day 2 of the conference, mayors celebrated widespread double-digit reductions in violent crime and shared local strategies to maintain that momentum.






get more stories like this via email

The Michigan League for Public Policy is warning recently passed education budget bills may appear to boost funding but ultimately fall short.

The League argued the legislation cuts essential K-12 services such as school meals, health centers and transportation, while also threatening higher education by reducing support for colleges and limiting access for low-income students. They contended the plan moves Michigan backward by abandoning a fair funding formula.

Alexandra Stamm, education policy analyst for the league, said the funding shift will harm many groups of students and schools.

"Instead of keeping those buckets of money for rural students, transportation, English-language learners, etc., this budget really just wipes all of those categoricals and then evenly distributes it across the state," Stamm explained.

The House bills have made it through both the Appropriations Committee and the full House, and are now in the hands of the Senate Appropriations Committee for review.

With the federal Department of Education facing $12 billion in budget cuts, Stamm stressed the uncertainty at the national level is trickling down to the states, so local education leaders need to work hard to keep classrooms steady despite the changing tides.

"It is really important that we continue to invest in schools here in Michigan with an eye towards equity," Stamm urged. "So that our schools can feel as though they are kind of safe and grounded from some of the uncertainty at the federal level."

Nationwide, 80% of schools have reduced academic programs, including art, music and physical education, due to budget constraints.

Ohio union and clean energy leaders are urging their U.S. Senators to reject a sweeping reconciliation bill they said would devastate families and reverse economic progress across the state.

They pointed out the proposal includes eliminating federal tax credits which have helped local governments invest in affordable energy and infrastructure.

Joe Flarida, executive director of Power a Clean Future Ohio, said repealing clean energy tax credits would drive up utility bills and force cuts to essential local services.

"We expect this summer to see utility rates reach as high as a 30% increase for American families," Flarida explained. "For folks sitting at their kitchen table and trying to do their budget, a 30% increase for utility rates is decimating."

The bill would repeal clean energy and manufacturing tax credits, risking $27.5 billion in investments and nearly 16,000 jobs in Ohio, according to the BlueGreen Alliance.

Lee Geisse, Ohio senior state policy manager for the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of union and environmental organizations, said the bill's wide-ranging cuts would create ripple effects across nearly every sector, affecting schools, health systems and job opportunities.

"I hope folks understand how this is all intertwined," Geisse emphasized. "It's going to take a lot of hard work for us, all of us and our members and our allies and partners, to get this point across."

Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, warns Medicaid cuts tied to the bill could weaken student support services and even contribute to school staff reductions.

"We're concerned that with these cuts, school health professionals like speech pathologists, occupational therapists, school nurses and all psychologists who all rely on Medicaid funding, will be cut," Cropper stressed.

The bill's detractors said the proposal threatens momentum in Ohio's clean energy economy and could roll back support for workers, families and schools at a critical time.