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A daily newsletter by  |
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| Medicaid assistance, political polling, least charitable, cancer country, student surveillance, and Pennsylvania's verboten license plates. |
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BUT FIRST...
Our latest deep-dive into how an alleged corruption scheme in the city of DuBois, Pa., went on for years without anyone noticing is the latest example of the need for tough, nonpartisan investigative reporting across Pennsylvania. That's what Spotlight PA is all about. Help sustain and expand our vital investigative journalism that holds the powerful to account by making a one-time or recurring gift to Spotlight PA now.
As a special bonus, all new monthly gifts will be matched at their ANNUAL value — that's a 12X match. We can't do this vital work without your support.
You can also give via PayPal here, or send a check to: Spotlight PA, 228 Walnut St., #11728, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Thank you!
—Christopher Baxter, editor in chief |
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If you’re one of the nearly 3.7 million Pennsylvanians who use Medicaid for health insurance, you’ll need to requalify for coverage over the next year.
The process can be complicated, and it could be trickier this time around because reenrollment has been paused since the pandemic began. That’s why Spotlight PA has put together a list of tips and tools that can help.
Read the full report: Pa. Medicaid reenrollment: What you need to know to keep your health insurance or find other options.
THE CONTEXT: For the past three years, a pandemic-era federal moratorium prevented states from kicking people off Medicaid even if they no longer met income or other eligibility requirements.
That policy ended on April 1, but nobody will lose their coverage right away.
As you go through the enrollment process, it’s worth keeping in mind that staffing shortages and high workloads in the offices that assess Medicaid eligibility could mean backlogs and delays on the state’s end. |
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NOTABLE / QUOTABLE
"As I try to restart a new life and contribute meaningfully to my community, there are times that my parole status — not my actions, but the way the system works — puts my freedom and progress at risk."
—Erik Van Zant, a criminal justice advocate who spent years in prison, on the need to revamp the state's supervision system
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| Evidence of busy beavers on Darby Creek at the Waterloo Mills Preserve in Delaware County, via Don N. Send us your photos by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania. |
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 EARLY POLL: New F&M College polling has former President Donald Trump leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among Pennsylvania Republicans. Among all of the 643 voters surveyed, Trump and Biden are neck-and-neck in a hypothetical 2020 rematch. One difference: Support for mail voting is down from pre-2020 election levels. Republicans are looking to undo years of vilifying the option.
 MORE RESULTS: The F&M poll also has U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) with a higher favorability rating headed into next year's reelection bid than his likely GOP rivals. WaPo (paywall) writes that one expected Republican challenger, state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin), could once again prove a costly nominee for his party, but Republicans could win Senate control elsewhere, the outlet adds.
 CHARITY CHECK: UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh has been ranked the least charitable nonprofit hospital in the U.S. by the Lown Institute. Capital-Star reports the facility received $246 million more in tax breaks than it spent on charity care and community investment in 2020. Several of the health giant's property tax exemptions in Pittsburgh are facing fresh scrutiny from Mayor Ed Gainey's office.
 CANCER CAUSE: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is eyeing new limits on the use of a cancer-causing chemical at medical sterilization facilities across the country, including several in Pennsylvania. The EPA says if one million people were exposed full-time to the level of ethylene oxide emitted by a Zelienople facility, 100 of them would be expected to develop cancer as a result.
 24/7 MONITORING: The Central Bucks School District will monitor students' online activity 24/7 with software that has become increasingly popular during America's ongoing mental health and school shooting crises. The software will monitor students on school-issued devices and flag them for signs of trouble. WHYY reports that data and privacy experts say there are unintended harms to consider. |
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🏆 TEST TIME: You know the drill: If you're confident you've been following the news closely, there's only one way to prove it. Put your knowledge to the test with the latest edition of The Great PA News Quiz.
In this week's installment: A total solar eclipse, high court election cash, and a ‘severe’ workplace safety violator. |
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MEDIA SPACE: A Pew Research Center survey of nearly 12,000 working U.S.-based journalists found the profession remains overwhelmingly white. Why does that matter? This 2019 CJR piece on Pittsburgh explains.
OPEN COURT: Harrisburg's new U.S. courthouse will open to the public on Monday, nearly 20 years after the project was approved, per PennLive.
PA REJECTS: Philly Mag (paywall) confirms: You cannot have "FUBIDEN" as your Pennsylvania vanity plate. Someone already tried.
BILLY BIOPIC: Pittsburgh native Billy Porter, who is one Oscar short of an EGOT, is set to play literary icon James Baldwin in a new biopic.
'DIME SCENE': A trailer holding $750,000 in dimes was parked outside a Philly Walmart. Two million dimes, worth $200,000, were stolen. |
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Unscramble and send your answer to scrambler@spotlightpa.org. We'll shout out winners here, and one each week will get some Spotlight PA swag. Answers submitted by 6 p.m. on issue date will be counted. C N E U T O N E A C N
Yesterday's answer: Rambunctious
Congrats to our daily winners: Craig W., Wendy A., Don H., Becky C., Jane R., Lynne E., Barbara F., Jon W., Susan N.-Z., Susan D., Bob C., Elaine C., James B., Dennis M., Ada M., Kimberly D., Dianne K., Tom M., and Bill S. |
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