At this time last year no one could have foreseen how much the world was about to change. The COVID-19 pandemic and our response to it has transformed everyday life for people around the world. It also has transformed our understanding of what it means to risk one’s life on the frontlines, so others can remain safe and healthy.
The pandemic forced millions of Pennsylvanians to adjust to a new way of life, with schools and many businesses converting to online operations in order to limit the spread of the virus, reduce infections and save lives. While many of us…
Great news, Pennsylvanians! Pennie — Pennsylvania’s NEW health insurance marketplace — has extended its Open Enrollment deadline. If you still need to enroll in health insurance for 2021, you have the opportunity to do so now.
There are two enrollment deadlines:
For health coverage starting January 1, you must enroll in an insurance option by 11:59 PM ET on December 22.
For health coverage starting February 1, you must enroll in an insurance option by January 15.
Pennie replaces the federal health insurance marketplace for Pennsylvanians. If you previously received coverage through Healthcare.Gov, you will now receive coverage through Pennie.
Much of our discussion of health care too often bypasses an important issue: mental health among children. One in five children in the United States show signs of living with a mental health condition. That means that in a class of 25 students, it’s likely that five of them will deal with depression, anxiety, substance use disorders or other adverse childhood experiences that make learning a serious challenge.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated stressors and trauma for vulnerable families, children and adolescents in our Nation and all over the world, triggering mental health issues that may follow into adulthood…
By Senator Bob Casey and Sara Nelson
In Philadelphia, 2,100 airline employees — flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, gate agents and others — will lose their jobs on October 1 unless the Republican Senate passes a relief package including an extension of the CARES Act Payroll Support Program (PSP).
Along with those employed by the airlines, airport workers like wheelchair attendants, maintenance staff and caterers will also join the unemployment lines from in communities across our state and every one of Pennsylvania’s 15 commercial airports.
As we continue to combat COVID-19, air travel remains at historic lows. Thanks to the PSP — a provision put forward by unions…
Tuesday, November 3 is the day of the general election, but voting has already begun in Pennsylvania. Voting is a pillar of our democracy and part of our civic duty as American citizens, so I want to make sure you have the resources you need to vote, vote early and vote safely. No matter who you plan to vote for, you can help PA elections run smoothly and make sure your voice is heard by making a plan right now for how you’re going to vote.
Register to vote: You can register to vote online, by mail, in person at…
June marks Pride Month, a celebration of this community and the many contributions LGBTQ+ individuals have made to society.
The Stonewall riots in June 1969 were born out of routine violence, discrimination and harassment, and they are emblematic of the movement of activism and action that has generated remarkable progress over the last 51 years. Since the advent of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement that began with the Stonewall Uprising, our Nation has achieved many advances in this fight for equality, including marriage equality in 2014. Yet the fight for equality is by no means over. Too many LGBTQ+ Americans do not feel free to live authentically as they are still heavily marginalized by way of stigma, bias, access…
Originally published in Penn Live on April 14, 2020
Jane, as she prefers to be called to maintain her anonymity, has spent the last weeks on a battlefield, a hospital in Pennsylvania. She says this about her job,
We are currently being instructed to care for probable and very likely COVID-19 patients without N95 masks. N95 masks will only be issued when a COVID-19 patient is positively identified. By that time, we have already been caring for these patients without the necessary safety equipment and precautions.
Masks are being saved and reused. We are being instructed to reuse disposable gowns. Front line caregivers are not being tested. …
They came — one by one — to stand in front of a packed church with a picture of their loved ones. They each said only a name and an age. Some wept, but even for those who did not, the weight of their grief and the strength of their courage echoed through the church with every syllable of their loved ones’ names. …
“There is a stigma against people with disabilities. People keep underestimating them, don’t believe they can work hard or keep a job. But when the disability community gets support, they can succeed. They can earn a living, pay taxes and integrate into the community.”
Those are the words of Peter O’Halloran, a worker, family member, self-advocate and person with a developmental disability from Philadelphia. Peter works as a staff assistant at Quality Progressions, a human services agency that provides support services for people with intellectual disabilities, including employment support services. …
Today is the 29th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a statute that is sometimes called the last great civil rights act of the 20th century. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control estimated there are over 61 million people with disabilities in the United States. As with the other great laws, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the ADA was written to rectify discrimination and prejudice against a specific group, in the case of the ADA, those 61 million Americans with disabilities.
One of those Americans is…
U.S. Senator Bob Casey
Representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
