Money Will Get to Atlantic Coast Residents Ahead of Hurricane Earl

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced that benefit checks are being delivered to some Atlantic coast residents on Thursday, September 2nd, before the arrival of Hurricane Earl and ahead of the regular September 3rd payment date.

About 737,000 beneficiaries in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. are affected by this early check delivery.

Social Security worked closely with the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of the Treasury to make the early delivery of checks possible. Click the title for the full story, including a list of zip code areas where beneficiaries will receive early delivery.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has increased fees for out-of-state lawyers who practice in the Commonwealth in order to finance a student loan forgiveness program for attorneys employed by agencies that help people who cannot afford legal representation.

The adjustment in fees from $100 to $200 applies only to attorneys eligible to practice in Pennsylvania as counsel pro hac vice — a legal term meaning “for this occasion.” The fee boost, which takes effect in 30 days, follows the Supreme Court’s recent decision to designate proceeds from the fee into the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, or LRAP, administered by the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation.

Beginning September 1, the Bar Foundation will receive loan applications from attorneys working for qualified agencies that provide legal assistance in civil matters to indigent Pennsylvanians. The LRAP loans will be forgiven if the attorneys remain employed at the legal aid organizations for one year.

Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance (MA) program focuses on managing individual’s physical health to improve well being and control costs. Depending upon where an individual lives, they will receive care either by:

• HealthChoices - Where an individual’s physical health needs is coordinated by one of the managed care plans contracted by DPW.
   
• ACCESS Plus – A fee for service model, that includes programs to assist people manage chronic disease and other case management services, that cover the 42 counties not in the HealthChoices program.

To learn where the AccesPlus and HealthChoices program operate in Pennsylvania, please go to this link.
 

A new federal grant will strengthen Pennsylvania’s work to improve the health and developmental outcomes of at-risk children through quality home visiting programs, Public Welfare Secretary Harriet Dichter said on August 19.

A more than $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help the state build on its successful home visiting programs and find ways to reduce gaps in services and obstacles to family participation.