New ad calls out Bresnahan’s decision to sell Medicaid stocks before gutting the program

US Rep. Rob Bresnahan sold over $150,000 in Medicaid-related stocks before voting to cut the program by $1 trillion. 

US House Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s (R-Luzerne) congressional stock trading record, especially when it comes to his vote to cut Medicaid by $1 trillion last year, will continue to be an anchor weighing down the freshman lawmaker’s chances of getting reelected in the fall.

This week, Affordable Pennsylvania, which is part of the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, launched a seven-figure ad campaign highlighting that record. 

“Congressman Bresnahan’s vote to gut Medicaid to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires was already a huge blow to his more than 200,000 constituents who rely on that coverage, but the fact that he sold his stock in Medicaid providers ahead of the vote means he not only prioritized billionaires over Pennsylvanians – he also put profit over them,” Jennifer P., a registered nurse featured in the ad, said in a statement. 

During his first year in office, Bresnahan became one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress even though he campaigned on banning the practice. As Republicans were moving on President Donald Trump’s budget cuts, he sold $130,000 worth of Medicaid-related stocks. 

Additionally, the New York Times reported that Bresnahan sold between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of bonds from the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. 

Over 310,000 Pennsylvanians are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage once these cuts go into effect after this year’s election, and, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, these cuts will impact over 21,000 of Bresnahan’s constituents. 

In the ad, Jennifer talks about her service working as a registered nurse for more than 30 years, and how Trump’s budget cuts will impact a lot of her patients who rely on the program for health care.

She then goes on to decry Breshanan’s decision to put corporations and billionaires ahead of his constituents. 

“Congressman Bresnahan voted to cut Medicaid to give huge tax breaks to corporations and billionaires. Bresnahan even sold stock in Medicaid providers before he voted to cut it,” Jennifer says in the ad.

“Now, hospitals in Pennsylvania might close. That would be catastrophic. Congressman Bresnahan put profit over Pennsylvanians.”