CHOP Wanted to Talk About Sick Kids. John Fetterman Reportedly Said, “Well I’m Not.”
I have a little history with John Fetterman.
I campaigned for him in 2016. I spoke with him at length on the phone (interview has since been deleted from my site), and I was genuinely excited about what he was saying and what he might do for Pennsylvania.
One thing in particular stuck with me. Back then, Fetterman talked about wanting to help the “Shamokins of Pennsylvania”—the forgotten towns and communities that don’t get much attention from Harrisburg or Washington.
That resonated with me because my mom is from Shamokin.
I know those Pennsylvania towns. I know the families who live in them. I know how often rural and working-class Pennsylvanians feel like nobody with any power is paying attention to them.
I thought Fetterman was going to be different.
Ten years later, I have now wasted what I count as six votes on this guy. Though, admittedly, one alternative was Dr. Oz, so I can’t work up that much regret over that particular vote.
Still, Fetterman has been a huge disappointment to me as a Pennsylvanian.
And the latest reporting about how he reportedly responded when Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to discuss Medicaid and vaccines might be one of the most disappointing examples yet.
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Because if you’re going to talk about helping forgotten Pennsylvanians, disabled kids, sick kids and families who depend on Medicaid seem like a pretty good place to start.
What Did John Fetterman Say About CHOP?
According to a September 4 Wall Street Journal investigation, Fetterman was told by an aide in September 2025 that officials from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to meet with him because of concerns about Medicaid cuts.
His reported response was: “Why do I have to keep having to meet with chop.”
After the aide explained why CHOP wanted the meeting, Fetterman reportedly responded, “Well I’m not,” and later said he was convinced CHOP officials “just want free trips to DC.”
Yes, because nothing says glamorous Washington getaway quite like lobbying a senator about Medicaid reimbursement and sick children.
The Journal’s account wasn’t presented as somebody vaguely remembering a conversation from a year ago. Its broader investigation was based on interviews with more than a dozen former Fetterman staffers and lawmakers as well as internal records and messages, and reporting on the CHOP incident says the Journal reviewed the relevant texts.
Fetterman did not provide the Journal with an interview or detailed responses to its allegations.
So yes, I’d like an explanation.
Why was Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator apparently annoyed that Pennsylvania’s world-renowned children’s hospital wanted to meet with him?
Isn’t meeting with Pennsylvanians and Pennsylvania organizations about federal policy sort of…the job?
What Did Senator Fetterman Say About Vaccines?
This part needs a little clarification because I’ve already seen the story getting condensed online.
The Journal did not report Fetterman saying that he opposed vaccines.
According to the reported text exchange, his aide told him that CHOP was concerned about “vaccines and Medicaid cuts.”
Fetterman’s reported response was: “Well I’m not.”
So we shouldn’t turn that into “John Fetterman said he doesn’t care about vaccines.” That’s not what the exchange establishes.
But I don’t find the actual exchange particularly comforting.
This was September 2025, when vaccine policy and access were hardly insignificant issues for pediatric hospitals. CHOP wanted to discuss those concerns with one of Pennsylvania’s two United States senators.
What Did John Fetterman Say About Medicaid?
This is where the story gets even more interesting.
CHOP reportedly wanted the meeting specifically because of concerns about Medicaid cuts. When his aide told him the hospital was worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts, Fetterman reportedly responded, “Well I’m not.”
That deserves context because Fetterman’s own public statements about Medicaid have sounded very different.
In April 2025, just months before this reported CHOP exchange, Fetterman’s Senate office announced that he had voted against the Republican budget resolution and quoted him saying he would “never support” legislation that strips Medicaid, Medicare or SNAP benefits from Americans.
His office also pointed out that more than 3.1 million Pennsylvanians rely on Medicaid and CHIP, including 39% of Pennsylvania’s children, and that Medicaid covers more than 722,000 Pennsylvanians with disabilities.
So which John Fetterman are Pennsylvania families supposed to believe?
This Is About More Than One CHOP Meeting
If this were one isolated story about a senator being cranky about another meeting on an overloaded calendar, I’d probably roll my eyes and move on.
It isn’t.
The Journal’s investigation paints a much broader picture of a senator increasingly disengaged from some of the basic work his constituents elected him to do.
Among the incidents reported by the Journal was a scheduled meeting with three paralyzed military veterans from rural Pennsylvania who traveled to Washington to discuss legislation that could improve their care. Fetterman reportedly canceled because he wasn’t feeling well.
Less than an hour later, according to the Journal, he arrived at his office for an appointment he apparently didn’t want to miss: a Fox News interview about Israel and the war in Iran.
There were other reported examples involving Pennsylvania constituents and lawmakers who wanted to discuss flooding, homelessness and programs for working people.
That’s what makes the CHOP story hit differently for me.
It starts looking less like one bad exchange and more like a question of priorities.
What Happened to Helping the “Shamokins of Pennsylvania”?
This is the part I keep coming back to.
When I supported Fetterman in 2016, I loved hearing him talk about communities like Shamokin.
My mom is from Shamokin, so it wasn’t an abstract political talking point to me. Pennsylvania has dozens of communities like it…places that have lost jobs, population, resources and political influence over generations.
People there don’t have unlimited choices.
Neither do many families raising disabled and medically complex children.
They depend on Medicaid. They depend on CHIP. They depend on children’s hospitals. They depend on elected officials actually showing up when policies affecting those programs are being debated.
Those are precisely the people I thought John Fetterman was talking about when he presented himself as the guy who was going to fight for forgotten Pennsylvania.
Maybe I misunderstood.
Because I have a hard time reconciling that John Fetterman with a senator reportedly complaining about having to meet with CHOP when the hospital wanted to discuss Medicaid and vaccines.
CHOP wasn’t asking him to come admire a new lobby.
They wanted to discuss federal policy affecting children’s health care.
Parents of Disabled Kids Already Know What It Feels Like Not to Be Heard
This probably bothers me more because I’ve spent more than 15 years as a special education advocate.
Parents tell me constantly that they don’t feel heard. They bring evaluations, medical information and data. They write emails. They attend meetings. They explain that their child is struggling, sometimes over and over again, and still leave wondering whether anybody listened.
Then everyone tells parents to advocate.
Contact your representatives!
Make your voice heard!
Call your senator!
Okay, then what?
What happens when the senator reportedly doesn’t want the meeting?
Children can’t vote. Many medically complex children cannot advocate for themselves. They depend on parents, doctors, advocates and institutions like children’s hospitals to put their needs in front of the people making decisions.
And yes, those people include United States senators.
Listening doesn’t mean agreeing.
A senator can meet with CHOP, hear its concerns about Medicaid and vaccines, examine the evidence and ultimately disagree.
John Fetterman Has Been a Huge Disappointment for Pennsylvania
I’m not writing this as someone who has always hated John Fetterman.
Quite the opposite.
I wanted him to succeed.
I campaigned for him. I voted for him repeatedly. I talked with him personally. I believed the message about forgotten Pennsylvania communities because those communities are part of my own family’s story.
That’s why I’m so disappointed.
And before someone inevitably tells me what the alternative was in 2022: Yes. I remember Dr. Oz. I was there. You don’t need to remind me.
That doesn’t mean I’m required to pretend I’m happy with what Pennsylvania got instead.
Supporting a candidate doesn’t require a lifetime subscription to defending him.
John Fetterman works for Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania doesn’t work for John Fetterman.
So I think Pennsylvania families deserve answers to some very basic questions.
Did he write these messages about CHOP?
Why did he apparently object to meeting with the hospital?
What exactly did “Well I’m not” mean when his aide told him CHOP was worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts?
And how does that attitude square with his public promises to protect Medicaid and fight for Pennsylvanians who need help the most?
Because I remember the John Fetterman who wanted to help the “Shamokins of Pennsylvania.”
I voted for that guy.
I’d like to know where he went.