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2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Community pharmacists in Pa. say they're struggling to absorb Rite Aid's customers
A Rite Aid pharmacy in West Chester, Pa. (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall) Ron McDermott is a part-owner of six pharmacies in western Pennsylvania and any outsider might think his business has never seemed better. Since the Philadelphia-based retail pharmacy chain Rite Aid declared bankruptcy last month and announced plans to close hundreds of stores across the state, McDermott has seen a flood of new customers looking to transfer their prescriptions. 'A lot of people are walking into our pharmacies. A lot of people are calling,' McDermott said. 'You'd think that's great news, but there are problems.' For most businesses, a major competitor shutting their doors would be welcome. But for pharmacists, taking on new clients can actually pose a risk to their bottom line. McDermott's pharmacies have had to turn away some new customers whose medications would cost them more to stock and package than they could make selling them. 'It's the complete opposite of what we want to do as a caring, community-based pharmacy,' he said. 'We have to be careful when we take on new patients. That's a sad situation in health care. It's not the way it should be.' McDermott blames middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. They're companies that contract with insurance plans to handle their prescription services, and are responsible for reimbursing pharmacists for drugs that they cover. But McDermott and other pharmacists say those reimbursements have been getting smaller for years, to the point where pharmacies are actually losing money dispensing certain drugs. Prescription for trouble: Pennsylvania pharmacists say PBMs are driving pharmacy closures Along with handling administrative work for insurers and reimbursing pharmacies, they also create insurance plans' formularies — their list of approved or preferred drugs. In that role, they negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers, often receiving kickbacks in exchange for placing their products on a plan's formulary — their list of approved or preferred drugs. On the other end, they negotiate with pharmacies to determine how much they'll reimburse them when they dispense drugs to insured patients. The companies' power comes largely from their size. The three biggest PBMs, Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, are part of healthcare conglomerates that rank among the biggest companies in the country, and have hands in the insurance and pharmacy businesses too. CVS Health, for example, owns CVS, the largest chain pharmacy in America, CVS Caremark, the largest PBM, and Aetna, one of the largest insurance companies. It's the sixth largest company in the U.S. by revenue. The 'big three,' as they're known in the industry, are responsible for processing about 80% of all prescriptions in America. That means pharmacists who refuse to accept the reimbursements that they offer are likely to lose customers whose insurance plans rely on them. Many of those customers only use generic drugs, which cost pennies or fractions of pennies to stock. Generally, generics make up a majority of a pharmacy's drug sales, and can be sold at a profit. But a disproportionate share of their revenue comes from the sale of name brand drugs, which can cost thousands of dollars per bottle and is often where reimbursements fall short of costs. Rob Frankil, the executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, a trade group for pharmacists, said that McDermott is not alone. 'I'm already having a lot of my members tell me they're not willing to take in Rite Aid patients, because they're already losing money on prescriptions they fill,' he told the Capital-Star. 'It all stems from the same thing: the reimbursement is bad when you fill prescriptions.' Greg Lopes, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a national trade group whose members include CVS, Express Scripts and OptumRx, rejected the notion that PBMs contribute to pharmacy closures. 'PBMs put patients first by working to lower prescription drug costs,' Lopes said in a statement. 'It makes no sense to blame PBMs for pharmacy closures in Pennsylvania. Independent pharmacies often point the finger at PBMs, instead of acknowledging that there are many factors that influence closures, including customer preferences for online options and changing demographics. ' Lopes added that PBMs 'are supporting community pharmacies in Pennsylvania through programs that increase reimbursement and advocating to allow them to expand the additional clinical services they can offer.' 'Pharmacies as gold' Lucas Berenbrok, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Pharmacy, has been tracking pharmacy closures around the country. Recently, he was part of a study that found around 200 have closed in Pennsylvania alone between January 2024 and March 2025. Berenbrok's research did not dive into the reasons for the closures, but, anecdotally, he said that it often comes back to unsustainable business models and low reimbursement rates. 'This is a big deal because one of the things that pharmacy has prided itself on for a long time is how accessible we are,' he said. 'That's why I got started in this research.' Lately, Berenbrok's work has been focused on identifying what he and his colleagues are calling 'keystone pharmacies.' These are businesses that, if they closed, would create pharmacy deserts in the communities they serve. Berenbrok said his team identified over 200 keystone pharmacies in Pennsylvania, though the list has not yet been made public. 'It's more of a preventative approach to say, 'Hey, let's look at these pharmacies as gold and try to do things to help them stay in business,'' he said. The recent spate of closures has not just affected local, independent pharmacies, but large chains as well. In 2021, CVS announced it would close 900 pharmacies. In 2024, Walgreens announced it would close over 1,200 in the coming years. Last month, Rite Aid declared bankruptcy. In bankruptcy filings, it announced plans to shutter about 150 of pharmacies in Pennsylvania alone, but all of its roughly 350 stores in the state may ultimately close. In a press release, Rite Aid announced that more than 1,000 of its stores nationally will be sold to other businesses, including CVS and Walgreens, with many remaining open through the transition. A spokesperson for Rite Aid did not respond to multiple requests for comment about how many of those are in Pennsylvania, and how many locations in the state may ultimately shutter. 'A pharmacist is one of very few health care providers where you can walk in and talk to a highly educated, highly trained professional, and sometimes you don't even have to have an appointment or copay,' Berenbrok said. 'It's a really great thing, I think, for everyone to understand and recognize how important it is to have a pharmacy around.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pa. Democrats call on GOP to oppose Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' as state budget season starts
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) decried the "Big, Beautiful Bill" during a press conference outside Pennsylvania Capitol. (Capital-Star photo by Vincent DiFonzo) Pennsylvania Democrats stood on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg Monday and called on Republicans to oppose cuts to entitlement programs that are working their way through Congress. 'They don't want to talk about this massive negative impact it's going to have on the quality of life of so many Pennsylvanians,' Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), said. 'It's not too late for them to join us, to be part of the discussion that says 'no.'' The proposed federal spending cuts are part of what Republicans call their 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' a budget reconciliation package that includes much of President Donald Trump's agenda. The bill has already passed the and can pass the U.S. Senate with a simple majority vote, which Republicans can muster without Democratic support. The bill would renew Trump's 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire and increase funding for immigration enforcement. To offset the costs, it includes dramatic spending cuts, especially to entitlement programs. Though the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found it could add $3.8 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years. Democrats in Harrisburg say the bill's spending cuts will have dramatic impacts in Pennsylvania. They've warned it could result in hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians losing Medicaid coverage, and tens of thousands losing access to food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The state, they say, does not have the funds to make up for that. Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia), the minority chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said there is little room to make up for potential federal cuts with state funding. 'Knowing the state budget the way I know it, we know that we have no capacity to backfill any of those cuts,' he told the Capital-Star. According to the left-leaning think tank Pennsylvania Policy Center, the bill includes roughly $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid spending over 10 years, and would institute new work requirements for people covered through the program. They say the result could mean more than half a million Pennsylvanians would lose health care. Currently, around 23% of Pennsylvanians, or around 3 million people, are covered by Medicaid, according to the state Department of Human Services. Rep. Arvind Venkat, (D-Allegheny), who is also an emergency physician,said before the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid, 20% of his patients didn't have health insurance. 'They would come into the emergency department too late for me to treat them, and that is a real thing,' he said. The reason some gave him was the fear of medical debt that they'd accumulate because they were uninsured. He worries that will happen again if more people lose insurance 'We need to call out the cynicism from our Republican colleagues in Congress. On the one hand they're saying they don't want to take coverage from anybody,' Venkat said. 'But then they're happy to brag that they're going to save $1.7 trillion in decreased federal funding. And the only way that happens is if people lose insurance or stop seeking healthcare when they need it.' The bill's Republican defenders say that the cuts are the result of eliminating fraud and waste, and will ultimately reduce spending to help bring a ballooning budget back in line. Republican Sen. Dave McCormick did not respond to questions from the Capital-Star, but addressed the bill at a televised debate with Democratic Sen. John Fetterman Monday morning. He said entitlement spending has been on the rise, and attributed that to an uptick of claims by people for whom benefits were never intended. 'Those are working-age men without dependents, and those are illegal immigrants in a number of cases,' McCormick said. 'So what I'm arguing for is that we need to cut out the use of those programs … by people for whom they weren't designed.' The reconciliation bill would also cut SNAP spending by nearly $300 billion, according to the Pennsylvania Policy Center, by reducing the federal government's share of spending. It would also expand work requirements. As it stands, parents raising dependent children under 18 are not required to meet them, but the bill would lower the age of qualifying dependents to 7. People 55 and older are also not required to meet work requirements, but the bill would change that to 65 and up. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh has warned that 140,000 Pennsylvanians could lose access to the food assistance program with the changes to work requirements. According to the Department's most recent data, in 2023, around 2 million Pennsylvanians received SNAP benefits every month. 'This bill would be the largest cut ever to food assistance in U.S. history,' Costa said. He added that the bill could mean cuts to the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which pays farmers to provide fresh food for seniors and people who receive Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutritional assistance programs. Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia), the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, called on Republicans to join his party in opposition. 'I think we have an opportunity to stop this, but the problem is it's only Democrats out here,' he said. Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) did not respond to questions from the Capital-Star. As it stands, the U.S. Senate is likely to make changes to the bill before returning it to the House. A number of Senate Republicans have raised concerns over how much the bill could add to the deficit. Populist Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) raised concerns about cuts to Medicaid, which he called 'morally wrong and political suicide.' Gov. Josh Shapiro also warned of a steep impact if the House version of the bill is passed. He said that it could impact not just patients, but hospitals that rely on Medicaid funds. 'We've got 25 rural hospitals that right now are operating on a deficit that likely would have to shutter if these Medicaid cuts go in effect,' Shapiro said at a press conference Monday morning in Harrisburg. 'It is certainly my hope that our federal representatives wouldn't vote for something that takes something away from Pennsylvania students or Pennsylvania seniors and everybody in between,' he added.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
AG's office says it seized hundreds of illegal gambling machines disguised as skill games
A sign in a convenience store window advertises skill games, slot machine-like devices. (Peter Hall/Capital-Star) The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced Tuesday it seized hundreds of illegal gambling machines allegedly supplied to storefront casinos and other businesses by a pair of companies owned by a Pittsburgh man with prior convictions for illegal gambling. The owner is also named in a 2024 grand jury presentment charging a former executive of skill game maker Pace-O-Matic with taking kickbacks for ignoring complaints to the company about illegal gambling machines. The attorney general's office said its agents and state troopers seized more than 400 illegal gambling devices from dozens of western Pennsylvania establishments in a series of raids in March. J.J. Amusements and Buffalo Skill Games are each charged with a felony count of being a corrupt organization, according to court documents. No lawyers for the companies are named in the court filings. 'These devices were essentially slot machines dressed up as skill games,' Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement. 'I commend our partners at the Pennsylvania State Police for helping disband a large-scale operation that netted a tremendous amount of illegal gambling profits.' A search of the companies' warehouse in Homestead, Allegheny County, uncovered $175,000 in cash and other signs of illegal gambling. The facility also had an elaborate surveillance system with dozens of monitors streaming live video and audio from the gambling locations, court documents say. According to the charging documents, skill games are distinguishable from video gambling devices because they require players to use their judgment to win. The machines seized are similar to video slot machines, except that if only two symbols match, the machine prompts the player to 'nudge' the third into place to recover their initial bet plus a small prize, the court documents say. While a spokesman for the attorney general's office said it is pursuing charges only against Conley's companies, court records show Conley was charged last year with illegal gambling offenses by the Cumberland County district attorney's office. An attorney for Conley identified in a court filing did not immediately return a call Wednesday. Federal court records show Conley was convicted of gambling and money laundering in 1995. Conley and his son, John D. Conley, are also named in court documents as the leaders of an illegal gambling enterprise that paid nearly $100,000 in kickbacks to Ricky Goodling, a former state police corporal, who worked as national compliance director for Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic until 2023. A spokesperson for Pace-O-Matic said the company fired Goodling when it learned of the investigation. Goodling is charged with racketeering and related offenses that stem from a years-long state police investigation. Also charged in the case are three employees of Deibler Brothers Novelty Co., a Schuylkill County company that prosecutors say distributed illegal gambling machines in 15 central and eastern Pennsylvania counties. The attorney general's office alleges Goodling took more than $500,000 in kickbacks from the Conley organization, Diebler Brothers and other operators to quash complaints about illegal slot machines. Prosecutors also allege Goodling helped distributors of the illegal devices obtain Pace-O-Matic's machines to attempt to disguise illegal machines and deflect law enforcement scrutiny. A preliminary hearing for Goodling in Schuylkill County is scheduled for May 22. Pace-O-Matic is the predominant operator of skill games in Pennsylvania. A series of court decisions has established that skill games are distinct from gambling machines and not covered by the state Gaming Act. But Pace-O-Matic has been a proponent of legislation to regulate and tax the games to confirm their legal status. Gov. Josh Shapiro said regulating skill games is one of his goals in this year's budget. His spending planestimates taxing the devices would generate around $370 million, recouping money the state lottery and casinos have lost. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Job cuts reversed at Pittsburgh lab that certifies nation's respirators
Aerial shot of the NIOSH campus in Bruceton, Allegheny County. (Photo from the CDC) The Pittsburgh-area lab responsible for certifying virtually all U.S. government-approved respirators in the country was preparing to shutter for good in June. The Capital-Star reported last month that employees had been told their positions were being eliminated as part of sweeping cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The lab is responsible for certifying and auditing just about every N95, as well as masks worn by doctors, firefighters, welders, coal miners, and other professionals. But those plans changed Tuesday afternoon. Officials with the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees union say many, if not all, employees remaining at the Bruceton facility, many of whom were on administrative leave, received an email telling them their jobs were safe — at least for the moment. 'You previously received a notice regarding the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) upcoming reduction in force,' read an email sent to lab employees by Thomas Nagy, the agency's acting chief human capital officer, and shared with the Capital-Star. 'That notice is hereby revoked. You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF.' The employee who shared the email did so under the condition of anonymity, for fear of retaliation. But a union official told the Capital-Star between recent buyouts, layoffs and early retirements, it's been difficult to say with certainty how many employees remain. And with so many on administrative leave, it's been hard to confirm if anyone did not receive the notification Tuesday. 'We're still trying to figure out what it all means and who it all covers,' said Suzanne Alison, a steward at the local American Federation of Government Employees chapter that represents Allegheny County's NIOSH employees. 'We're crowdsourcing a little bit among ourselves.' A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to detailed questions about the decision to reverse the planned cuts, but said that, 'The Trump Administration remains committed to supporting coal miners, who play a vital role in America's energy sector. Under Secretary [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]'s leadership, NIOSH's Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program will continue to meet the needs of our nation's miners.' Workers at the National Personal Protective Technology Lab learned their jobs were no longer being cut on the same day a U.S. District Court judge in West Virginia granted an injunction ordering employees of NIOSH's mine safety and respiratory health divisions return to work following previous cuts. That was in response to a class action case led by West Virginia coal miner, Harry Wiley. It's unclear if there was any connection between the ruling and the reversal of cuts to the respirator certification lab. Alison said the ruling likely only affected employees at NIOSH's Morgantown division, who also faced steep cuts earlier this year. West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito said Tuesday on the social media platform X that over 100 employees would be returning to work at the Morgantown facility. However, employees at NIOSH's Pittsburgh-area Mining Research Division, which studies best practices for avoiding workplace injuries and deaths, do not appear to have received the same notices as those at the respirator certification lab, Alison said. Kennedy is scheduled to testify Wednesday before both the U.S. House Appropriations committee and the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee to discuss his agency's proposed budget, which includes drastic staff cuts. There are two Pennsylvania representatives on the House Appropriations panel, Republican Guy Reschenthaler and Democrat Madeleine Dean. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Concerns mount about Sen. John Fetterman. So do his rebuttals and defense from allies
New York Magazine's article airing concerns about Sen. John Fetterman's alleged health struggles was the kind of story that shifted a news cycle — a rare feat in 2025, considering it had little or nothing to do with President Donald Trump. The reporting, relying largely on ex-Fetterman staffers including his former chief of staff Adam Jentleson, painted a troubling picture. Since taking office, it alleged, Fetterman has displayed signs of paranoia, delusional thinking and erratic behavior, sometimes seeming unaware of his surroundings altogether. Jentleson said staff were concerned that he stopped following his doctors' treatment plans following a stroke near the end of his 2022 Senate campaign and a subsequent hospitalization for clinical depression. Fetterman strongly repudiated the article's claims. 'New York Magazine decided to platform a grudge fashioned by best friends and disgruntled staffers unwilling to put their names on it,' Fetterman told the Capital-Star in an email. 'If there were genuine concerns, they'd pick up the phone and call me, not the press. My actual doctors and my family affirmed that I'm in good health.' A spokesperson for Fetterman added that the Pennsylvania Democrat has 'always been fully transparent about the health issues that impacted his ability to work, and he will continue to be open should his circumstances ever change … He, his family, and his doctors have affirmed that he is in good health. Any anonymously sourced claims suggesting otherwise are untrue and to smear.' Since the article's publication, other reports have emerged on Fetterman's behavior. The Associated Press reported on a recent outburst at a meeting with union officials, and anonymous former staffers told the Inquirer that Fetterman has been 'disengaged' from his duties as senator. Fetterman has missed 18.9% of floor votes since taking office. That includes a number of votes during his six-week hospitalization for depression in 2023. According to the nonpartisan vote-tracker GovTrack, the median senator misses 2.7% of votes while in office. 'I've made roughly 90% of the votes since January,' Fetterman said in a statement sent to the Capital-Star. 'The missed votes were overwhelmingly procedural, my vote was never determinative and limited to travel days.' The allegations about Fetterman surfaced as Democrats broadly have faced criticism for sweeping concerns about members' fitness for office under the rug. Most prominently, the party was roiled after President Joe Biden's disastrous 2024 debate performance appeared to confirm fears in the electorate that he was cognitively incapable of serving a second term. Biden ultimately stepped aside in the presidential race, though Fetterman remained one of his strongest defenders. That followed the 2023 death of then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein, at 90 years old, who had been the subject of reports of diminishing cognitive capacity. More recently, House Democrats backed 75-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, to serve as the top party member on the House Oversight Committee, despite concerns about his age and health. Connolly gave up the seat on the committee and said he won't seek reelection, citing a return of his esophageal cancer. The phenomenon hasn't been limited to the Democratic side of the aisle. Republican congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas missed more than five months of votes last year while living in a memory care and assisted living facility. Some prominent political figures have rushed to Fetterman's defense, including Pennsylvania's junior senator, Republican Dave McCormick. 'It's time to put politics aside and stop these vicious, personal attacks against Senator Fetterman, his wife, and his health,' McCormick wrote on social media Friday morning. 'While we have many differences, we are both committed to working together to achieve results for the people of Pennsylvania and make their lives better. He is authentic, decent, principled, and a fighter. These disgraceful smears against him are not the John that I know and respect.' A few elected officials from outside of the Keystone State from different sides of the aisle have also spoken in support of Fetterman 'The only reason for the coordinated campaign against Senator John Fetterman is his unapologetic pro-Israel politics. Let's call it what it is,' U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-New York, wrote on social media Friday. 'As someone who has struggled with depression my whole adult life, I can tell you that if you truly care about someone's mental health, leaking hit pieces against them is a strange way of showing it.' U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, also chimed in go to bat for Fetterman. 'John Fetterman and I have our differences, but he's a decent and genuine guy,' Cotton wrote. 'The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he's pro-Israel and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians. Disgraceful.' T.J. Rooney, a Democratic consultant and former chairman of the Pennsylvania state party, has spoken approvingly of Fetterman's honesty about his health problems and iconoclastic political views. 'One of the ways he's unique is he made all of his successes himself. Politics bent to him. John didn't bend to the politics,' Rooney told the Capital-Star. But he rejected the assertion by Fetterman and others that the reporting is part of an orchestrated attack. 'I think people are reading a whole lot more into this than it's deserving of,' Rooney said. ... There are times in life when people find themselves in positions in life that they are not well suited to.' For Fetterman's first two years in the U.S. Senate, he served alongside Bob Casey. During Casey's farewell address in December, Fetterman lauded Casey, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, as a mentor and said that he was by his side when Fetterman had a stroke: 'He lent me his voice when I was learning how to speak again. I never forgot that.' 'It has been a privilege': What Sen. Bob Casey said in his Senate floor farewell speech When Fetterman was facing criticism from fellow Democrats earlier in Trump's term for backing some of his cabinet selections, Casey defended him and called him a 'very good senator' and said he thinks he'd 'do the right thing when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable and protecting the middle class.' The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a memo from Jentleson noted that Fetterman's relationships with colleagues began to suffer, including his 'notable friendship' that 'deteriorated' with Casey. Casey told the Capital-Star Friday that 'John and I have always had different styles and approaches to the job, but we had a strong relationship while I was in the Senate,' when asked about Fetterman's fitness and current job performance. But some political insiders have called for his resignation, including Jonathan Last, the editor of the Bulwark who once saw Fetterman as a model for the future of the Democratic Party. Cumberland County Democratic Party chair Matt Roan also called for Fetterman's resignation in an op-ed in March, before the New York Magazine report. The day that article was published, he reposted his own editorial and wrote, 'I've been here for a month.' Gov. Josh Shapiro has taken a more measured approach. 'I think the best judge of Senator Fetterman's health is Senator Fetterman and his family, and I'll leave it to them to discuss that,' Shapiro said to reporters during a news conference in Philadelphia Thursday. When asked what he thought about Fetterman's job performance, Shapiro said 'again, I think it's a question for Senator Fetterman and his family and the people of Pennsylvania to weigh in on.' Former Gov. Tom Wolf and state Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, who is chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, declined to comment. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, did not respond to questions sent to his press team by the Capital-Star. Since taking office in 2023, Fetterman's standing among Democrats in his own state has been rocky. Recent polling shows Fetterman still has support in the commonwealth, even improving marginally since he took office with around 50% approving of him compared to 35% disapproving in March. But a recent poll conducted before the New York Magazine story suggests that's despite his support sinking among Democrats. Though he ran as a progressive, Fetterman has since drawn ire from the left wing of his own party. Early opposition was over his staunch defense of Israel's actions in Gaza. He was also the only Democrat to vote to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, who sidestepped questions about whether Trump lost the 2020 election during her confirmation hearings, and he criticized members of his party who wanted to force a government shutdown in March over opposition to federal cuts. More: What did John Fetterman say about Donald Trump's presidency? In February, just weeks into the Trump administration, he was denounced along with Trump and Elon Musk, leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, by speakers at a Pittsburgh protest organized by progressive activists. While protesters decried what they saw as executive overreach, and Fetterman's failure to oppose it, the senator saw it differently. 'There isn't a constitutional crisis, and all of these things ― it's just a lot of noise,' Fetterman told HuffPost in February. 'That's why I'm only gonna swing on the strikes.' Fetterman's term in the Senate doesn't end until 2029, and in politics nothing is certain. But questions about his fitness to serve could affect what will likely be an important race for both parties. Pennsylvania is one of only two states, along with Michigan, to have a Republican and Democratic senator, though a third, Maine, has a Republican and independent who caucuses with Democrats. Roan told the Capital-Star he's concerned Fetterman's job performance will further drag down voters' confidence after what Roan called 'feckless' opposition by congressional Democrats to Trump's lawlessness. 'A lot of the public isn't so hot on Democrats right now, so we need people in those slots who can mount a more effective response to Trump's abuses,' Roan said. Having led the local effort to turn out voters for Fetterman in 2022, Roan said Fetterman's term so far has been a disappointment that he fears could erode support for Democrats in down-ballot races. 'Every time our elected officials let us down it negatively affects our donors and their support,' Roan said. Since the start of his Senate campaign, Fetterman has been a fundraising juggernaut. However, in the first three months of 2025, his campaign raised just over $395,000, which was the lowest amount in a full quarter since he declared for the seat in February 2021. While a sitting senator in the middle of his term isn't a priority for donors, Roan said, it could signal doubt about Fetterman's viability as a candidate going forward. Rooney, the Democratic consultant, wouldn't weigh in on calls for Fetterman's resignation, but said his next campaign should be secondary to his well-being. 'Does he have a future in elected office? I don't know, but that's not what's important right now,' he said. 'We just want the guy to get some help. He's got a great family, a wife who obviously cares a lot about him, kids who adore him.' Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Sen John Fetterman, allies refute allegations about his health
