“It was like a godsend.”

Those are the words of Lynn Weidner of Allentown, explaining the impact that the Affordable Care Act—signed into law 16 years ago today—has had on her life.

Weidner told me that she had been denied insurance coverage prior to the ACA’s passage due to pre-existing conditions. After she was able to obtain insurance through an ACA marketplace, she was able to be treated for iron deficiency anemia.

“I could now get regular iron infusions,” Weidner said. “I get them every other month now. And my numbers are great and I feel good.”

Sarah Sculley of Philadelphia told me the ACA has had a similar effect on her life.

Sculley was diagnosed with a genetic mutation that drastically increases a person’s likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancer, along with other forms of cancer. With health care coverage through the ACA, she said she was able to formulate a plan with medical experts to increase her chance of survival and maybe even prevent those cancers entirely, which included a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. 

“The breast cancer prevention plan for someone with my history is aggressive,” Sculley said. “The ACA saved me, as all of this preventative care now had to be covered by my health insurance.”

We’ve got more on what the ACA has meant to these two Pennsylvanians.

While hardly a perfect solution to the nation’s health care crisis, the ACA has opened doors for families who previously faced impossible choices between paying medical bills and covering everyday necessities. 

Though for some, those doors have been closed indefinitely.

About 1 in 10 Americans (9%) who were enrolled in an ACA marketplace health plan last year are now uninsured following the lapse of enhanced federal subsidies that reduced their monthly premiums, according to a new survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. 

Nearly 85,000 Pennsylvanians (20%) previously enrolled in the state’s ACA marketplace plan, Pennie, have dropped their coverage due to rising premiums. The average premium increased by 102%, with some reporting monthly premiums that tripled. 

For our QOTW, we want to hear from Pennie customers:

Have rising premiums on your Pennie plan made you rethink your health coverage—have you dropped it, or are you considering dropping it?

Let us know how you’re navigating higher health insurance premiums through Pennie, and please let us know where you live.

The restored Electric City sign in Scranton is a city landmark. (Carol H. Highsmith/Library of Congress)

You’ve seen it on signs and T-shirts. You’ve heard Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute rap about it on “The Office.” But why is Scranton called the “Electric City”? Do people, as Michael Scott raps, “call it that because of the electri-city”? Not exactly.

The nickname isn’t because of electricity in general. It traces back to the late 1800s, when Scranton became an early adopter of electric technologies, particularly electric streetcars—a cutting-edge innovation that ignited civic pride and transformed how people moved through the city.

Our Kalena Thomhave has the details about how Scranton earned its Electric City nickname—and why it’s stuck even more than a century later.

• Hours after Pennsylvania’s Democratic Sen. John Fetterman cast the deciding committee vote for President Donald Trump’s new Department of Homeland Security secretary, Chester County’s Democratic US Rep. Chrissy Houlahan voiced her frustration with Fetterman at a town hall meeting, saying that she found it easier to work with his Republican colleague, Dave McCormick. Our Sean Kitchen has the story here.

• A new report published by the Colorado Times Recorder found that five ICE field offices across Pennsylvania are also acting as unofficial immigration detention sites known as “hold rooms.” Find out more here. 

• ICE officials are asking the state Department of Environmental Protection for more time to address environmental concerns regarding warehouses purchased by the federal agency in Berks and Schuylkill counties. Get the latest here.

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Historian Douglas Brinkley prepares to speak at an event in Palm Beach, Florida, in February 2024. Brinkley suggested Erie as a site for a museum dedicated to War of 1812 history. (USA Today Network)

Erie is looking to its past to help shape its future.

The centerpiece of that effort—a plan backed by a key mover behind the $420 million World War II Museum in New Orleans—is a proposal to build a state-of-the-art War of 1812 Museum in Erie.

And that’s only part of what’s under consideration as efforts to reconstruct 18th-century forts on Erie’s east bayfront advance.

The goal is to grow heritage tourism while celebrating local history.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Patrick Berkery with stories from Sean Kitchen, Ian Karbal from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Kalena Thomhave, and USA Today via Reuters Connect. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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