CBO: Community Health Centers at Risk

Funding cuts threaten care for 816K Pennsylvanians

By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service
The Tube City Almanac
May 30, 2025
Posted in: State & Region

The “big beautiful bill” passed by Congressional Republicans may not seem so beautiful to more than 800,000 Pennsylvania residents who rely on local community health centers for health care — including in the Mon-Yough area.

A report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 800,000 Pennsylvanians who rely on local Community Health Centers could face new barriers to care if proposed Medicaid cuts in the bill — which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives — are signed into law.

Locally, there are Community Health Centers on Lysle Boulevard in the city, as well as Miller Avenue in Clairton, Braddock Avenue in Braddock and West Street in Homestead.

Created in 1965, Community Health Centers, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers, are non-profit organizations that provide comprehensive, affordable, and high-quality primary care, including medical, dental and mental health services, to poor communities, regardless of their insurance or ability to pay.

Community Health Centers receive a relatively small percentage — 5 to 7 percent — of overall U.S. health spending.

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

Overall, CBO estimates that more than 8 million Americans could lose health coverage in the next decade.

The cuts are part of the budget legislation — which President Trump has dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — which passed the House on May 22 and is awaiting approval in the U.S. Senate.

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

Aimee Wechsler, director of government affairs at the Wright Center for Community Health in Scranton, 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 said. “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 said The Wright Center clinics see more than 35,000 patients a year in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Dunn, from the National Association of Community Health Centers, said community-based clinics end up saving taxpayers money, since they reduce people’s use of higher-cost options like hospital emergency rooms.

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 said. “This is in hospitals, nursing homes and Community Health Centers, like the Wright Center. Cuts to Medicaid would also affect those jobs.”

Danielle M. Smith is a producer for Public News Service, where this story first appeared. An award-winning radio journalist/personality with more than a decade of experience in broadcast media, she is a former audio journalist with American Urban Radio Networks and Sheridan Broadcasting Networks who also hosts a weekly community affairs show “Good News” on WGBN (1360 AM/98.9 FM).

Originally published May 30, 2025.

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