Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

With the end of the public-health emergency looming, a new report reveals millions of children in Pennsylvania and elsewhere are at risk of losing insurance, some for administrative reasons.

More than half of Pennsylvania children are insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They’ve been able to maintain stability in their coverage thanks to the continuous-coverage requirement from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Laura Stephany, health policy manager for Allies for Children, said when the public health emergency ends, it will put many Pennsylvania kids at risk of losing insurance due to procedural policies such as the state not having an up-to-date address.

“If a family is low-income, and they don’t really have the best housing security because of the economic crisis that’s been going on for the past two years, they’re more likely to move around a lot and to be missed,” Stephany explained. “We really want to ensure that the most vulnerable families don’t fall through the cracks.”

The report was released by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families. The public health emergency is set to expire April 15 but could be extended past July. Since the start of the pandemic, 192,000 additional Pennsylvania children have enrolled in Medicaid coverage.

Tricia Brooks, research professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, said there are policies states can implement now to help minimize coverage disruption.

She urged states to slow down the process, to ensure efforts to prevent automatic disenrollment are thorough.

“States should start by maximizing the use of existing data sources to confirm ongoing eligibility for as many people as possible now to reduce the backlog of pending actions,” Brooks suggested.

Pennsylvania advocates recommended Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration utilize the 12-month period permitted by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services for the eligibility and renewal process. Phone calls, emails and text messages could also help reach families at risk of losing coverage.

(File Photo taken by Sandy Giordano of Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane)

Story By Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News Correspondent 

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Ads have been placed in the Beaver County Times. New Pittsburgh Courier, and the PA Chiefs of Police Association’s website letting qualified police officer candidates know Aliquippa has openings . Police Chief John E. Lane  said, hopefully we’ll get a lot of applications. Cadets are graduating from the local academies in June, and 3 have expressed interest in Aliquippa.

(AP Photo)
By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sally Kellerman, the Oscar nominated actor who played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in director Robert Altman’s 1970 film “MASH,” has died. Kellerman’s publicist says she died Thursday of heart failure in Los Angeles. She was 84. Kellerman had a career of more than 60 years in film and television. She appeared in the 1986 comedy “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield. She was nominated for an Emmy for a role on “The Young and the Restless.” But she would always be best known for playing straitlaced army nurse Major Houlihan. She was nominated for an Oscar for the role.

(AP Photo)
By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter. That will mean most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings. The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended based on current data.

(File Photo)

(Ambridge, Pa.) There continues to be a Water issues in Ambridge this morning. Water Buffalos will be available at the Ambridge Fire Department starting at 8 AM this morning for those who are serviced by the Ambridge Water Authority who are in need of water.
The problem started yesterday around 5 a.m. there was a break inside the treatment plant and crews were unable to stop treated water from flowing back into the plant. 8,000 customers were left without service in Ambridge and parts of Harmony Township.
The water authority contracted a company to come in and build two valves to isolate the plant and pump water out to customers. The Authority said that they found that two of their man pumps had been flooded in about 30 feet of water for nearly eight hours, damaging the motors.
Now with the flooding under control, the water authority has since been able to get water flowing to customers from a reserve tank in Ambridge and two more in Economy. As service is restored, all customers are under a boil water advisory and are being told to conserve water while the authority works to get everything running as normal.

The Rochester Girls played a good solid game against a ST Joseph team that came on strong in the second half. Rochester started off with good defense boxing out ST Joseph through out the first half taking a 36 17 lead in the third quarter only to have it slip away, ST Joseph went on a 25 to 10 run on the rams and would take the lead with 2 :45 left in the game. The Rams did get the lead again  but could not hold on to it. The lady Rams are not out of the playoffs yet but they do need ST Joseph to play again like they did tonight and win their next game which would get Rochester back in the state playoffs final score ST Joseph 57 Rochester 54.

(AP Photo)
By AAMER MADHANI, ZEKE MILLER and ELLEN KNICKMEYER undefined
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, charging that Russia’s Vladimir Putin “chose this war” and that his country will bear the consequences of his action. The sanctions target Russian banks, oligarchs, and high-tech sectors. The penalties fall in line with the White House’s insistence that it would look to hit Russia’s financial system and Putin’s inner circle, while also imposing export controls that would aim to starve Russia’s industries and military of U.S. semiconductors and other high-tech products. Biden, for now, is holding off imposing some of the most severe sanctions, including cutting Russia out of the SWIFT payment system.

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.)  At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many patients were unable to access care or were hesitant to go to a doctor’s office or clinic.

As a result, Highmark members turned to virtual care, and the health insurer saw telehealth utilization increase by more than 3,600 percent from 2019, with more than 3.5 million claims processed for telehealth services.

In 2021, even as many COVID-related restrictions were lifted and members felt more comfortable with in-person care, telehealth utilization by Highmark members remained virtually unchanged, with more than 3.3 million claims processed for telehealth services.

“What the data is telling us is that our members have really adapted well to virtual care,” said Dr. Timothy Law, vice president and executive medical director, Clinical Services, Highmark. “This is really great news because we are finding that virtual care can help to remove barriers to care such as traveling distance, scheduling difficulties and apprehension about going to a doctor’s office and being around other sick patients.”

Dr. Law said the data also shows that Highmark paid a total of more than $307 million in telehealth claims in 2021, with more than $303 million – or 98 percent – being paid to local doctors, hospitals and clinics.

Highmark’s claims data also shows that the most utilized service by its members was Behavioral Health, with more than 1.3 million claims, representing 42 percent of all telehealth claims.

“Telehealth and virtual care are really important for behavioral health,” said Dr. Law. “In addition to removing barriers such as distance and cost, we are finding that virtual care is also helping to remove some of the stigma associated with behavioral health, which means more people are getting the treatment they need at a time when we are seeing dramatic increases in depression and anxiety due to the pandemic.”

In fact, Highmark has added many new virtual behavioral care providers for members in recent months. Meru Health is a 12-week evidence-based program to treat depression, anxiety and burnout via a discreet smartphone app. To help improve diagnosis and treatment of OCD, Highmark is also now working with the provider NOCD to deliver virtual face to face therapy with therapists specializing in Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP).

Earlier in 2021, Highmark contracted with Ria Health, a technology-enabled telehealth medical practice that focuses on treating alcohol use disorder by combining medically assisted treatment with digital tools to help members track and record progress.

Dr. Law said members have used telemedicine services for more than behavioral health. Flu, pink eye, rashes, strep throat and sinus infections have also been treated virtually through board-certified doctors 24 hours a day via phone, tablet or computer.

Highmark’s data also showed that women were more likely to utilize telehealth by a two-to-one margin, and that members age 19 and younger accounted for 21 percent of telehealth utilization in 2021, followed by members 20-29 and 20-39 at 18 percent. Members 60 or older accounted for just 13 percent of all telehealth utilization in 2021.

For more information on accessing telehealth services, members should visit the Highmark member portal.