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Residents of rural Pennsylvania continue to face obstacles to receiving healthcare as new Medicaid and Medicare requirements may soon disproportionately affect residents.
Advocates and nonprofits are working to keep these services accessible.
Northwestern Pennsylvania has historically faced healthcare challenges for years, and is home to the phenomenon dubbed the 'maternity desert'. Larger than Connecticut, this desert is comprised of eight counties which lack access to hospitals with delivery services or maternity providers.
"We are really seeing challenges with OBGYN services," said Lisa Davis, the director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health "We have a number of hospitals that have discontinued labor and delivery across the state". Davis noted that the 'concentration' of these reductions and difficulties are occurring in the northwestern part of the state.
Maternity care, however, is just the tip of the iceberg.
"It's very difficult for many people to access a hospital," said Sen. Judy Schwank, the top Democrat in the Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee. "We're working on the bare minimum in terms of accessibility to the maximum amount of population."
According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the rural communities have only one primary care physician for every 1,395 residents, compared to urban metrics which are closer to 788 for each physician. This means many Pennsylvanians are forced to make lengthy car trips to get the care they need.
Davis, however, fears pricier gas bills may soon be the least of their concerns.
"Rural hospitals tend to have higher numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients," she said.
Davis predicted that many rural residents will lose their insurance coverage when the Big Beautiful Bill's new working requirements come into effect Jan. 1 of 2027. While these new requirements are meant to save money, she sees a flaw in the bill's logic.
"Just because you don't have insurance doesn't mean you don't get sick," Davis said. "Every study has shown that those who are uninsured delay care and when they do access care they have more exacerbated conditions which then becomes more expensive to treat."