On behalf of the Philadelphia Fed, thank you for your continued partnership and the important work that you do to support a strong economy. We strive to be a resource to you through our data-driven research, ongoing community engagement, and ability to convene stakeholders around shared solutions to economic challenges. Our work in 2024 included:

• a comprehensive update to the Occupational Mobility Explorer, which now includes nearly 600 job titles across more than 500 U.S. locations. This resource allows users to explore career paths and visualize how job skills needed for specific occupations can transfer to higher-paying occupations in the same geographical area.
• launching the Banking Deserts Dashboard to provide insight into regions and communities that do not have local bank branches. This tool is part of ongoing research by the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Philadelphia to better understand how the decline of bank branches across the nation may be impacting low-income communities.
• advancing a national conversation about the importance of hospitals and higher education institutions to local economies. The 2024 Anchor Economy Conference highlighted research on the economic impacts of anchor institutions in regions and engaged community leaders, researchers, and experts in a meaningful discussion about anchor economies. Our ongoing Anchors for Equity Research in Action Labs are also exploring how to leverage partnerships with anchor institutions in local workforce development efforts.

As we look ahead, we’re excited to host the Economic Mobility Summit in Philadelphia on April 22 and 23, 2025. We aim to bring together community leaders, policymakers, researchers, experts, advocates, and others from across the nation to highlight the importance of economic mobility to the U.S. economy; identify ways to advance research into actionable strategies; and elevate best practices for community-led, cross-sector collaboration that can increase economic opportunity and mobility in regions. We encourage you to register and reserve your seat today!

As always, we will keep you updated with the latest events, research, and ways to engage with us and the Federal Reserve System in the months ahead.

In every community across Pennsylvania, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) play a big role in keeping kids covered and healthy.

Through these public health insurance options, nearly half of all Pennsylvania children have access to check-ups, doctor recommended screenings, vaccinations and much more.

Our annual fact sheets provide a breakdown of the more than 1.3 million Pennsylvania children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP within each legislative district.

PPC uses these fact sheets to educate members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, state House, and state Senate about the critical role of Medicaid and CHIP in providing families with high-quality, affordable health care for both physical and mental health.

Access the fact sheets here.

According to a new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, children in Pennsylvania’s small towns and rural communities depend on Medicaid just as much as children in Pennsylvania’s urban communities. And it shows that Pennsylvania adults and seniors in rural communities are insured through Medicaid at higher rates than their urban counterparts.

This is especially important given most of Pennsylvania’s counties are considered rural.  In fact, Pennsylvania ranks 5th highest in the country for the number of people living in small towns and rural areas.

Any large cuts to Medicaid that are currently being considered would pose very serious threats to residents and their health care systems in rural communities that are already struggling.

Pennsylvania relies on federal Medicaid funding to thrive. Federal cuts to Medicaid would shift the burden onto Pennsylvania’s budget and lead to higher uninsured rates among our kids, seniors, pregnant women and people with disabilities.

Read the coverage: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Threaten Rural PA Residents, Hospitals

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) publicly released new County-Level Utilization and Condition-Specific Reports today, giving stakeholders in Pennsylvania valuable insight into ambulatory/outpatient usage and hospitalization rates of high interest conditions, using the most recent data available.

County-Level Utilization Reports are updated every quarter and show the overall total number of inpatient hospitalizations and ambulatory/outpatient cases for Pennsylvania residents. These results are displayed by patient age, sex, and payer. The newly released County-Level Utilization Reports reflect data from Q2 of 2024.

PHC4’s County-Level Condition-Specific Reports focus on several high interest conditions displaying county-specific rates of hospitalization for Pennsylvania residents. This information reflects data from the state fiscal year 2024, which is July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The analysis within the County-Level Condition-Specific Reports is limited to Pennsylvania general acute care hospitals.

“This succinct series of reports sheds light on critical health care components at a county-level. This type of reporting is one of many ways PHC4 proudly supports Pennsylvania communities.” said Barry D. Buckingham, PHC4’s Executive Director. Buckingham went on to say that PHC4’s goals include providing fact-based reporting in support of those charged with prioritizing health care resources effectively. The organization believes this is in direct support of the newly established mission of empowering Pennsylvanians through transparent reporting.

PHC4 is an independent council formed under Pennsylvania statute (Act 89 of 1986, as amended by Act 15 of 2020) in order to address rapidly growing health care costs. PHC4 continues to produce comparative information about the most efficient and effective health care to individual consumers and group purchasers of health services. In addition, PHC4 produces information used to identify opportunities to contain costs and improve the quality of care delivered.

For more information, visit phc4.org or review the full report here.

Media contact:

Barry D. Buckingham, Executive Director, PHC4, bbuckingham@phc4.org

Dan Shane PhD; Edmer Lazaro, DPT, MSHC; Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith Mueller, PhD

This brief explores how the process for setting benchmark payments for Medicare Advantage plans may create different incentives across rural and urban counties.

Key Findings:

• Rural counties are less likely to rank in the lower Medicare Fee for Service (FFS) spending quartiles that receive a higher percentage of the county benchmark: 41 percent of rural counties are categorized in combined quartiles 1 and 2 versus 59 percent for urban counties.
• Global caps (maximum benchmark payments based on pre-Affordable Care Act (ACA) county FFS spending) on benchmark payments  are much more likely in rural counties, particularly those in the lower-spending quartiles, reducing incentives for supplemental benefits or reduced cost sharing.

Additional products:

• Medicare Advantage Plan Growth in Rural America: Opportunities for Beneficiaries https://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/projects/1004
• Medicare Advantage Plan Growth in Rural America: Availability of Supplemental Benefits https://rupri.public-health.uiowa.edu/publications/policybriefs/2024/MA_Plan_Growth.pdf

Contact Information:

Keith J. Mueller, PhD; keith-mueller@uiowa.edu
Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
University of Iowa College of Public Health
Office: 1.319.384.3832