Rob Bresnahan Under Fire Back Home As NEPA Faces Rising Health Care Costs, Regional Hospital Service Cuts

Bresnahan’s constituents held a vigil for the thousands across NEPA who could lose their health care. A Luzerne County resident slammed Bresnahan, saying he “sold out his community” by creating a health care crisis.

And a medical laboratory technologist at the Regional Hospital of Scranton told the Times Leader that Bresnahan’s support for cuts to Medicaid and Pennie will hit the local hospital hard: “That includes vulnerable hospitals like mine at Regional, where we’re already barely hanging on by a thread. These cuts will lead to more financial losses, making it even harder for us to provide care for our over 381,000 patient[s] who visit every year.”

Read more of the reporting below:

• “While premiums are soaring to unaffordable heights, millionaire Congressman Rob Bresnahan doesn’t have to worry. His stock portfolio is safe and his helicopter will still take off on time. But for working families in Scranton and across Pennsylvania, healthcare has become a luxury that they cannot afford,” [Dwayne] Heisler said.
• Reps for Breshanan did not immediately respond for comment on Sunday […]
• Sue Wiggins, a laboratory technician at Regional Hospital in Scranton, explained how premium increases would affect people.
• According to Wiggins, the slashing of Medicaid and Pennie would also cause service cuts, layoffs and closures throughout home care programs, clinics and nursing homes.
• “That includes vulnerable hospitals like mine at Regional, where we’re already barely hanging on by a thread. These cuts will lead to more financial losses, making it even harder for us to provide care for our over 381,000 patient who visits every year,” she said.

• The Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health estimates that five rural hospitals across the commonwealth, which includes Regional Hospital of Scranton, are at risk of closing because of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, which cut Medicaid by roughly $1 trillion.
• Since taking office earlier this year, Bresnahan has made a name for himself by becoming one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress. 
• The New York Times reported that Bresnahan sold between $100,001 and $250,000 in bonds issued by the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Bresnahan’s trade came after a report warned about rural hospital closures.
• Malane Gallagher, a Luzerne County resident, had a pretty simple message for Bresnahan.
• “He’s a sellout. I think he sold out his community,” Gallagher said. “He actually lives not far from where I live—he’s one town over from where I live—and I just think he sold us all out.”

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