The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Kaiser Media Fellowships 2015 Pennsylvania Site Visits
In May 2015, the Foundation invited a group of journalists with a strong focus on health policy and state health reform to participate in a week-long fellowship program focused on how the Affordable Care Act is shaping Pennsylvania’s health care environment. The site visits in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh gave the journalists the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts and stakeholders on health care costs, health insurance enrollment and access, innovations in clinical care delivery, and health care market consolidation. The program included in-person interviews with the CEOs of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Highmark Health — two companies locked in battle over Pittsburgh’s insurance and provider market — as well as a discussion with some of their customers. The visits also covered a range of issues including the challenges of providing care for the uninsured and underinsured, the implications of the change in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid expansion model, and future alternatives for the state’s health insurance marketplace.
2015 Pennsylvania Site Visit Agenda
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured published two fact sheets about Pennsylvania. One provides an overview of the state’s health care landscape, and the other describes Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania.
Taunya English, senior health correspondent with Philadelphia’s WHYY Radio, interviews Jan Klein of the Allegheny County School Insurance Consortium about employer health benefit issues.
Participants
Ben Allen, health reporter, WITF public radio, Harrisburg, PA
Virgil Dickson, health regulatory and policy reporter, Modern Healthcare, Washington, D.C.
-“Medicaid expansion shifts jeopardize Pennsylvania beneficiaries’,” Modern Healthcare, May 15, 2015
Taunya English, senior health reporter, WHYY radio, Philadelphia, PA
-“Is high-deductible insurance changing healthcare shopping habits?,” The Pulse, May 22, 2015
Melanie Evans, reporter, Modern Healthcare, New York, NY
Dan Gorenstein, senior health desk reporter, Marketplace radio, Philadelphia, PA
Elana Gordon, health & science reporter, WHYY radio, Philadelphia, PA
-“Awaiting ruling on ACA, states ready back-up plans,” The Pulse, June 5, 2015
Gisele Grayson, senior producer science desk, NPR, Washington, D.C.
Noam Levey, health policy reporter, The Los Angeles Times, Washington, D.C.
Shefali Luthra, web reporter, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.
Kris Mamula, reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times, Pittsburgh, PA
-“Romoff on Highmark, UPMC: ‘Two Goliaths in the ring. No one is likely to get killed, just injured’,” Pittsburgh Business Times, May 15, 2015
Rachana Pradhan, health care reporter, Politico Pro, Washington, D.C.
– “UPMC, Highmark move on after messy breakup,” Politico Pro, May 22, 2015
Julie Rovner, senior correspondent, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.
Margot Sanger-Katz, Upshot health care correspondent, The New York Times, New York, NY
Adam Smeltz, health reporter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, PA
-“Highmark, UPMC rivalry helps keep patient care costs manageable, CEOs agree,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 16, 2015
Heather Stauffer, health reporter, LNP News, Lancaster, PA
Halle Stockton, reporter, Public Source, Pittsburgh, PA
Charlotte Sutton, health editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA
Sarah Jane Tribble, health reporter and producer, ideastream, WCPN public radio & WVIZ public television, Cleveland, OH
David Wenner, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA
-“Obamacare reaches deep into Pa. — despite meager state help,” The Patriot-News, May 22, 2015
-“Highmark-UPMC divorce fallout could touch Harrisburg region,” The Patriot-News, May 28, 2015
Jeff Young, health care reporter, The Huffington Post, Washington, D.C.