Letters to the Editor | Oct. 17, 2025

Emily Greene’s recent op-ed promoting ending healthcare subsidies relies heavily on the Paragon Health Institute to support her position. This institute was started by Brian Blase, a former health policy adviser in the first term of the current administration. It promotes the free market approach to healthcare, and we’ve seen how well that works with the Crozer Health System’s demise.

We were promised a beautiful new healthcare system in two weeks when Blase was the healthcare policy adviser in the first term, and we are still waiting. Why should we believe anything that is propped up by this institute? All we receive is the destruction of the best that could be negotiated to insure more Americans. By the way, not using insurance does not mean it isn’t necessary. When you get sick and need it, you use it. They won’t support the costs of preventative healthcare, so if the consumer doesn’t have a healthcare crisis, they won’t use a catastrophic healthcare plan.

Kevin Jones, Glen Mills

Emily Greene’s recent op-ed misleads readers by presenting ideology as analysis, and by omitting key data about what these tax credits actually do.

Independent, nonpartisan sources — including the Urban Institute, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Kaiser Family Foundation — all find that allowing the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits to lapse would cause as many as five million Americans to lose coverage, and sharply raise premiums for millions more. These are not abstract “percentage” increases: The KFF’s modeling shows real-dollar jumps in premiums, especially for middle-income households slightly above 400% of the poverty line.

Ms. Greene’s claim that the program costs $125 billion a year and mostly enriches insurers is contradicted by CBO estimates, which put the average annual cost closer to $35 billion — money that primarily lowers out-of-pocket costs for families, not corporate profits. Her assertion that 12 million ACA enrollees “never use their coverage” has no empirical support. Insurance is protection against risk, not proof of yearly medical bills.

What Ms. Greene never explains is what happens to the millions of working Pennsylvanians who don’t get insurance through their employers. Without these tax credits, many would face monthly premiums exceeding their rent or mortgage. Is her alternative simply that they go without coverage? Given her affiliation with Americans for Prosperity — a group that has consistently opposed both the ACA and public insurance expansions — that appears to be the implication. Doing nothing would push working families back into the pre-ACA chaos of unaffordable premiums, medical debt, and hospital charity care.

Pennsylvanians deserve a debate grounded in verified data, not ideology.

Barry Vernick, Philadelphia

In response to Emily Greene’s op-ed on getting rid of Affordable Care Act tax credits, be aware that the data twisted in the piece is from the Paragon Health Institute, an “institute” founded by Brian Blase, former special assistant for economic policy during Trump 1.0. Greene’s Paragon-based assertion that “in nearly 30 states, more people are claiming eligibility [for ACA subsidies] than live in the state” is widely debunked. The national average of American people claiming ACA tax credits is about 6.4%. The state with the highest percentage of its population using the ACA is Florida, at just over 19%. The total enrollment in the ACA nationwide is smaller than the population of California. The battle to preserve ACA tax credits is so that Americans can afford to buy health insurance for their families when they have no other affordable option. Let’s fight to keep it.

Ann Burruss, Newark, N.J.

At a time when edicts are propelled from the White House, absent the rule of law, it is imperative that the Philadelphia region has access to a range of perspectives on what is happening to us. The Inquirer has provided two recent examples upholding the golden rule of an unbiased press.

One instance was Jonathan Zimmerman’s response to local legislators regarding a second White House effort to require educational institutions — including professor Zimmerman’s employer, the University of Pennsylvania — to adhere to restrictions on curriculum, hiring, and admissions in exchange for federal grants. While the White House effort is abhorrent, Zimmerman states, two Pennsylvania legislators’ call for any school receiving state dollars to reject the White House deal in order to receive state funding is the equivalent of the White House edict, and must be rejected.

A second example was an op-ed by Emily Greene, Pennsylvania state director for Americans for Prosperity, who makes a case for letting Obamacare tax credits expire, which she claims are a “bailout for special interests, not a resource for families.”

In these terrifying times, we must make every effort to listen to a range of opinions, sort out the facts, and advocate for what we believe in based on our best understanding of what we’ve heard.

Norma Van Dyke, Philadelphia, nvandyke121@gmail.com

I am a 76-year-old grandmother who has lived in the United States my entire life. I have always been proud of this country for the generous spirit of my fellow citizens and for the leaders in our government who worked hard to honor the Constitution. The words associated with the Statue of Liberty — “Give me your tired, your poor” — resonated with me, as I grew to understand my father’s journey from Northern Ireland in 1927. Now, I do not recognize my beloved country. Today, I sat beside a woman at the pharmacy who shared that she was waiting to hear that her job was being eliminated immediately from the Environmental Protection Agency. She worked there for 25 years. It appears some of our so-called leaders do not care about the average United States citizen. Being “pro-life” means much more than opposing abortion. It encompasses the entire spectrum of human beings, including those of a different race, creed, nationality, physical ability, age, and, yes, citizenship. I want to remain hopeful that our elected officials, who are trying to bring law and order back to this beautiful land, will succeed in their earnest efforts. Also, there are many educated, concerned people on social media to help us understand the many ways we are losing our rights. To my fellow citizens: Wake up and pay attention. Our wonderful country is disappearing before our eyes.

Patricia M. Duffy, Cherry Hill

I am responding to Trudy Rubin’s recent column in which she outlined the challenges of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. Ms. Rubin states, “It is Phase Two — which calls for rebuilding Gaza and offering Palestinians a political future — that will determine whether the ceasefire-hostage deal marks more than a brief respite before the next wave of bloodshed.”

I strongly disagree with Ms. Rubin. In addition to rebuilding, the second phase also calls for the disarmament of Hamas, which at this point will not happen. Upon the departure of Israeli forces, almost immediately, internecine fighting erupted in Gaza between Hamas and their local rivals, including the Dughmush clan. The BBC has verified video and audio of Hamas executing eight clan members who they claim were Israeli collaborators.

Will Hamas give up its weapons? Don’t bet on it.

Ken Rozov, Cherry Hill

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