A brief video from the U.S. Census Bureau gives a step-by-step demonstration of how to find this data for urban and rural areas.

Researchers found that occupations with a high risk of mental health problems are those with workers who: 1) have high physical or psychological job demands yet little control over work processes; 2) limited support at work; 3) limited ability to use their skills or discretion in how they do so; 4) low or inconsistent income; or 5) low occupational prestige.  It’s estimated that about 19 million Americans have a major depressive episode in a given year and that mental health disorders cost employers nearly $200 billion in 2018.  See the Funding section below for a new federal program aimed at improving job quality in specific sectors of the economy.

In order to spend funding received through the national settlement and other opioid-related settlements, states have developed legislative and legal frameworks that distribute funds and decision-making authorities between the state government, local governments, and/or special abatement funds or trusts. States are in different stages in the process of receiving money, deciding how to spend it, implementing funded programs, and reporting on spending and outcomes. However, 17 states have now approved and published their plans for a first year of spending, which often include priority areas or approved uses for funds. A smaller subset of states have awarded settlement funds to specific abatement programs. Many of these plans were published in the final months of 2022 or first months of 2023 as part of annual reports on settlement spending activity.

This issue brief provides an overview of published statewide opioid settlement spending plans and appropriations made to date and highlights initial priorities and investments outlined in these plans.

Check out our data webpage for recent Pennsylvania KIDS COUNT® Data Center updates!

We have updated information from the 2020 Census release this past week for our population and housing indicators and the most recent information on births from the state Department of Health!

ARC has released the 13th update of The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey, also known as “The Chartbook.” The report, written in partnership with the Population Reference Bureau, features more than 300,000 data points comparing Appalachia’s economy, income, education, and more with the rest of the nation.

The 2023 report shows that Appalachia continued to make progress in educational attainment, labor force participation, income levels, and poverty rates from 2017-2021. Despite positive trends, work remains for the Appalachian Region — particularly its oldest, youngest, and most rural residents — to achieve parity with the nation.

To address Appalachia’s key vulnerabilities, ARC launched the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) for large-scale economic transformation. The funding opportunity has a new application process that will be reviewed in detail during ARC’s pre-application webinar on June 22.

Several rural counties are featured in a report from the National Association of Counties on behavioral health needs and access challenges.

The DHS Unwinding Renewal Tracker records 1,322,553 individuals listed as the Total Maintained Population during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continuous coverage period. This is the total number of individuals who would have been ineligible or did not return a renewal and had their Medicaid coverage maintained between March 2020 and March 2023. The Tracker also breaks down information by zip code, age group, and county. As of April, for the Maintained Population, 77,129 completed renewal packets with 1,245,424 yet to have a renewal completed. Of the 77,129 renewals, 7,908 were closed and 69,221 remained eligible for Medical Assistance. Closures were due to consumers being determined ineligible based on information provided, failure to return documentation, and enrolling in Pennie. For the entire Medicaid population, 3,708,405 recipients were enrolled in Medicaid, 28,366 were newly enrolled and 15,560 were closed, indicating enrollment increased despite closures. The number of individuals who were eligible for Medicaid in the previous month and maintained coverage in the current month was 3,680,039.

Pennsylvania Acting Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys announced the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) has strengthened its review of mental health and substance use disorder coverage in 2024 health plans. Insurers under PID regulation must file their plans with the Department for approval. Now, for 2024 filings, PID is enhancing its compliance review of mental health and substance use disorder parity requirements to prevent potential violations before they have a chance to harm Pennsylvania consumers. PID pushed insurers to correct parity issues found during the large group and student health filing review process, resulting in insurers correcting 100% of the issues identified during the front-end product review. Some of the corrections included requiring insurers to remove session limits for rehabilitative and habilitative therapies when prescribed for mental health, and to provide clearer exclusions of cost-sharing or session limits for mental health services. For more information on the mental health and substance use disorder parity, or to file a complaint or ask a question, visit the department’s Bureau of Consumer Services at www.insurance.pa.gov/consumers or call 1-877-881-6388.