Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz and U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. offered a health care services checkup for people in Northeast Pennsylvania.
They visited Scranton on Friday, first with a tour of the Wright Center for Community Health to get a better understanding of the local health care landscape, then headed to Geisinger Community Medical Center for a health care roundtable.
Bresnahan described the timing of Oz’s visit to the area, in the midst of the pending sale of Commonwealth Hospitals and proposed expansion of Geisinger’s footprint, as “perfect.” It also followed Bresnahan’s vote for President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” which, among many other things, reduced funding and access to programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.
Oz, a former heart surgeon and TV personality, said it was important to establish high-quality care and for communities to retain those who trained locally.
Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a visit to the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
CEO and president of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce Bob Durkin speaks to the press at the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a visit to the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
State Rep. Rob Bresnahan speaks at the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
State Rep. Rob Bresnahan speaks with Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz at the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a visit to the Geisinger Community Medical Center Professional Building in Scranton Friday, December 5, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Oz and Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., commented during a press conference which followed the roundtable discussion attended by government leaders, legislators and health care providers. The media was not invited to the roundtable.
“The most expensive thing we can do in medicine is provide bad care,” Oz said. “High-quality care leapfrogs a lot of the challenges we face,” he said, adding that if a health care provider does a bad job, a patient then has to pay more for another provider to fix it, with an increase in the likelihood of complications in the future.
He said the Wright Center was an example of quality, accessible health care, as well as local residents training to provide quality care.
Linda Thomas-Hemak, president and CEO of the Wright Center, said the visit and roundtable discussion provided a chance to discuss the challenges of health care locally and nationwide.
The answer to what Thomas-Hemak described as a “complex debacle” was collaboration and cooperation among government entities, health care providers and citizens.
$50 billion in funding
Bresnahan and Oz lauded the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, expected to target needs in the area’s health care system, especially in underserved and rural communities.
Oz said $25 billion, the program’s baseline funding, would be distributed equally to every state over the course of five years. It was necessary to submit an application for the baseline funding, he said, and every state applied.
A second $25 billion will be distributed to states through population data and also submitted plans for use of the money. For example, he said, Pennsylvania’s application indicates that it would use the money to increase its workforce.
Should the state fail to do that, money could be diverted to another state — not as a punishment but to ensure improved health care and accountability, Oz said.
This provides incentives for states to increase the quality of their health care, and not just rurally, Oz said.
“It will also help us develop new models in underserved areas,” he said. “So, what we learn in rural America is going to help us in urban America.”
ACA tax credits addressed
When asked about a vote next week on a bill set to extend expiring Obamacare, or Affordable Care Act, tax credits, Bresnahan said he would vote to extend the tax credits, but didn’t yet know for what period.
Bresnahan said he’s been in conversations about extending the tax credits and implementing reform over the course of two years.
When asked to clarify his stance on extending the tax credits, he indicated he was working with legislators on both sides of the aisle on a solution and was in favor of extending them, but didn’t provide a specific timeline.
Oz said he would focus on misspent or fraudulent ACA funding and work to clean up the mess.
The tax credits, he said, had been increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the emergency. He said up to 4.5 million people were officially enrolled in ACA insurance, but didn’t know they had it, didn’t want it or didn’t need it.
Resolving these issues, he said, would free up billions of dollars.
Earlier, Oz spoke at the annual Lehigh Valley Health Care Summit organized by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce at the Aster Event Center in Upper Macungie Twp.
A county without a hospital
Pike County Commissioner Matthew Osterberg said Pike is the only county in Pennsylvania that has never had a hospital or urgent care.
The issue was underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic, when residents had to travel to New York, Scranton or Monroe County to get tested or be treated.
Many times its necessary for residents to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance or medical helicopter in an emergency, he said.
Even more importantly, residents, including older residents, don’t have peace of mind.
Osterberg pointed out that older people are acutely aware of how they would respond to a medical emergency because the likelihood they will experience one increases with every year.
Osterberg said he was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the round table and to have a chance to discuss his concerns for his county.
Negative response
Following the roundtable discussion and press conference, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat who is seeking Bresnahan’s 8th Congressional District seat, said, “Rob Bresnahan promised he would protect our health care but instead voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, ripping away care from tens of thousands of our neighbors and putting hospitals at risk of closure.”
In a prepared statement, she went on to say that, “No matter who parachutes into our community to appear alongside Rob, nothing can change the fact that he voted for deep and damaging cuts that are hurting our community while he looked out for his own bottom line. His cruel attempt to tout patchwork funding that represents only a fraction of the deep cuts he made is like an arsonist calling the fire department and expecting to be called a hero. We are tired of his empty rhetoric and broken promises that strip our community for parts while he uses his office to enrich himself.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also provided an email taking issue with Bresnahan’s assertion that he was helping the most medically vulnerable in the state.
They pointed out that Bresnahan voted in favor of Trump’s bill, which cut $1 trillion from health programs, impacting both Medicaid and Medicare.
They described Oz and Bresnahan as “two of the most comically out-of-touch cartoon villains who have ever stepped foot in Northeastern Pennsylvania.”