Some lawmakers report a surge of people who applied for benefits now calling their offices for help, including some seeking help with claims dating back to March. | From: NBC10/ Telemundo62 (Read more.)
Pandia Health is now offering direct-to-door contraceptive pills, patches, and rings to Pennsylvania residents. | From: Philadelphia Magazine (Read more.)
Families hit hardest by the pandemic are also struggling the most with medical bills, according to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund. | From The Inquirer (Read more.)
Dozens of protesters from the activist group Put People First! PA marched in front of the Center City offices of health care providers and health insurers Saturday to call attention to what they describe as “health care profiteering” during a global pandemic.
Philadelphia is a major health care hub, and the organizers of the protest wanted to leverage the stage the city provides. | From WHYY (Read more.)
Consumers are paying higher prices for a lot of things these days, from used cars and gasoline to groceries and plane tickets. The Consumer Price Index jumped 5.4% in June compared with the same month last year, the largest 12-month increase since 2008, according to the U.S. Labor Department. | From The Inquirer (Read more.)
Philadelphia public school students and staff will be required to wear face masks when they go back to in-person classes in the fall.
New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested it’s safe for fully vaccinated students and teachers to go without masks indoors. However, School District of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite said the district will keep its mask requirement, based on the CDC’s recommendation that students be kept at least three feet apart and that unvaccinated people keep wearing masks.
“Until that guidance changes, we will still be asking individuals to be in masks and subject to testing,” Hite said, referencing the district’s rapid COVID-19 tests, for which parents must fill out a consent form. Hite said the district will perform weekly testing for adults, as well as random tests on 20% of students every week. | From NBC10 (Read more.)
For the last 60 years, Philadelphia has run its PlayStreets program, which functions both as a city-run summer camp and a free meal distribution program for families. This year, about 260 city streets will be blocked off from traffic and local block captains will distribute meals, backpacks, toys, and games for kids to play with in the street.
For Renell Powell, a retired grandma of four and assistant block captain, last summer’s COVID doldrums proved to be the perfect time to bring a PlayStreet to the 200 block of Alden St. in Southwest Philly.
“I noticed it wasn’t that many places in the area doing it,” Powell said. “I’m retired, and my grandson said, ‘Grandma, why don’t we just try a PlayStreet, give out the lunches?’ I said, ‘OK.’” | From WHYY (Read more.)
Pennsylvania is taking measures to rein in skyrocketing cyber fraud that’s attacking the state’s unemployment compensation system.
The Department of Labor and Industry announced Friday that it had contracted with identity verification service ID.me to screen new applicants for benefits.
“We take unemployment benefit fraud very seriously at L&I, and we are committed to working with our partners to prevent fraudulent claims and hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” said Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier. | From WHYY (Read more.)
The Community College of Philadelphia’s West Philly campus on the corner of 48 and Market Streets is in the middle of creating a Career and Technology Center (CATC) to be completed in Spring 2022.
The new learning facility will benefit many students from all parts of the city, and provide an opportunity for them to learn more about software proficiency, environmental studies, and hands-on healthcare training. | From AL DÍA (Read more.)
North Philadelphia real estate developer SHIFT Capital and a coalition of area community groups signed a community benefits agreement promising construction jobs and affordable housing in exchange for support of an apartment complex to rise next to the Beury Building on North Broad Street. | From WHYY (Read more.)
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