Representative John Joyce is a doctor and has repeatedly professed his devotion to the health and healthcare coverage for his constituents. He posted the following statement on his web site.
As a doctor who practiced medicine in Pennsylvania for over 25 years, Dr. Joyce came to Congress to improve Pennsylvanians’ access to quality and affordable health care. From protecting Medicare and investing in American medical innovation to combating the drug crisis … Dr. Joyce is fighting every day to make our healthcare system work better for American patients.
Actually, Rep. Joyce has repeatedly supported legislation that will raise the cost of healthcare for his constituents, remove their healthcare coverage, and endanger the health of hospitals that serve his constituents.
Rep. Joyce voted for a $100 billion cut in Medicaid, which will eliminate Medicaid benefits for 300,000 Pennsylvania residents and force closure of hundreds of rural hospitals, including several in his district.
The supporters of this move claim that nobody who deserves coverage will lose it. Imagine. $100 billion worth of Medicaid benefits to able bodied people perfectly capable of working who instead stay home playing video games because … they get medical insurance? Seriously? Reagan’s “welfare queen” living high on the hog with, what?, 96 welfare payments was always a despicable lie, but at least it made coherent sense. These charges don’t even make sense.
So, if you actually believe there are 300,000 totally able-bodied people in Pennsylvania who are using those Medicaid benefits to finance their lifestyle of video game playing and crypto investments, then you can be comfortable nobody will lose benefits.
You should be aware that the hospital you depend on disagrees. The healthcare cuts Rep. Joyce voted for will eliminate the collective total profit margin of all Pennsylvania hospitals. According to the most comprehensive study of the economic health of Pennsylvania hospitals, in 2025, Pennsylvania hospitals had an overall profit margin of 2.9%. Healthcare cuts voted for by Rep. Joyce will reduce this in 2030 to -3.3%. In other words, the average Pennsylvania hospital will be insolvent 4 years from now, thanks to Rep. Joyce.
Congressman Joyce never mentions that he also voted for legislation that will trigger automatic $500 million cuts in Medicare. He voted repeatedly to take medical care away from half a million Pennsylvanians.
His record outside healthcare, if anything, is even worse. In his first six years in Congress, Joyce voted in favor of federal deficits exceeding $12 trillion! No Congressman in American history has voted for higher deficits in so few years. By comparison, in eight years as Speaker, Nancy Pelosi didn’t support the amount of deficits big-spender John Joyce supported in six. Nor did Robert Byrd, in more than 50 years in Congress.
After years of denouncing “forever wars in the Middle East,” Rep. Joyce is now a cheerleader for President Trump’s costly and pointless Iran war, which is impoverishing every resident of the 13th District and will leave the United States worse off – and the Iranian fegime and nuclear program both stronger – than it was before we started this war..
This year, Trump has requested $1.5 trillion in defense spending, an increase of 40% in the already-bloated budget. This will balloon the deficit and cause even more cuts in Medicaid and Medicare. Rep. Joyce supported this absurd increase without even waiting to hear the details.
The 13th District deserves a member of Congress who looks out for the interests of his or her constituents. John Joyce repeatedly has voted against his own constituents. Basically, we are represented by Charlie McCarthy, mindlessly parroting whatever his Edgar Bergen, Donald Trump, says.
By voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Representative Joyce, a multimillionaire, ushers in these terrible changes for people in our beautiful 13th Congressional District.
Out of 729 thousand residents of Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry Counties, in addition to parts of Cumberland and Somerset Counties, over 163 thousand receive Medicaid benefits and over 194 thousand receive Medicare benefits.
But let’s be clear – those beneficiaries aren’t receiving the money directly – the payments are going to the providers of healthcare – their doctors (except non participating providers whom the patient pays in full first), the hospitals, ambulance companies, pharmacies, etc.
In other words, all these claims about poor people perpetrating some kind of fraud for healthcare money are simply lies peddled by right-wing media corporations.
Don’t fall for Joyce’s claptrap and vote against your own interests.
Instead, vote for me, Beth Farnham, in the November 3rd election.
Together, we Choose Democracy and Truth!