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"Now let's look to the future of Healthy Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, that's where its bad "side effects" can be found. It creates a third health care delivery system, in addition to the Medicaid Managed Care system and the federally facilitated exchanges. Small changes in income will send people from one system to the other, creating many opportunities for bureaucratic mischief that could interrupt their coverage. Starting in 2016, the Welfare Department will be able to charge Pennsylvanians living from 100 percent to 138 percent of the poverty level (for an individual that's an annual income of up to $16,105, and for a family of four that's an annual income of up to $32,913) 2 percent of their monthly income for coverage. That's a higher premium than any other state has sought to charge its low-income residents."

"Twenty-nine of 50 eligible schools in Vermont have chosen to participate in this program, according to the governor's office. The program is part of the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Concannon said. The 'Community Eligibility Provision' of that law has already been introduced in several states but this year opened to all 50 states. Schools qualify if they have a high number of children whose family income is 185 percent or less of the federal poverty level (for a family of four that means $23,850) and if they have a high percentage of children whose family income has been verified through another state or federal program, such as ReachUp or food stamps, Concannon said."

"This is a big deal because the Arkansas approach has been seen as the most likely model under which GOP-friendly states might eventually expand Medicaid. But the GAO report is a reminder that the economics of the Arkansas model might not work and that the private-option waiver might not be funded after three years. But the big challenges facing the Medicaid expansion don't only involve the private variation. The public version of the Medicaid expansion is about to hit its own funding wall starting in January when the Affordable Care Act's boost in funding for Medicaid primary care doctors expires."

"Oregon high schools made near-zero progress at getting more students prepared for college and careers last school year, according to test scores released Wednesday. Statewide, 30 percent of high school juniors failed the high school math test, 16 percent failed the reading test and 41 percent failed the writing test. Passing rates were essentially unchanged from the low levels achieved in 2013, and the wide gaps separating minority, low-income and limited-English students from the rest did not narrow."

"Thousands of public school children in Fresno County are homeless and living in hotels or motels, shelters, doubling up with family or on the street, according to a study released Wednesday. The situation is even worse in Los Angeles, which has the highest number of homeless students in the state. In Trinity County, the percentage of homeless children is highest and growing, the report said."

"Rather than simply expanding Medicaid - a program that sometimes essentially denies care to the poor because doctors avoid its low reimbursement rates - Corbett sought to reform it. Corbett's program seeks to provide coverage to an estimated 600,000 additional Pennsylvanians by offering them federal subsidies to purchase private insurance. This will reduce disruption for those whose incomes rise enough to no longer qualify for the program and likely provide better coverage overall."

"Roughly 100 students on Mesa's campus are registered as Homeless or Former Foster Youth. These students, who struggle to finance their basic needs along with their academic expenses, frequently find themselves living in their cars and showering at the gym."

"The relentless economics of the U.S. health care system have sapped resources in poor areas for decades as hospitals and doctors follow the money in the form of well-insured patients. Doctors and medical care facilities serving large numbers of poor patients have trouble staying afloat because uninsured patients and those on Medicaid are expensive."

"University System of Maryland schools have had mixed success in improving the graduation rates of minority and low-income students, according to an annual progress report released this week. Some colleges, including the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have been able to boost minority and low-income achievement. But at other schools, the gaps between those students and middle-class whites have increased in recent years."

"Gov. Paul LePage's decision to shrink Medicaid instead of expanding it was a radical departure from a decade-long effort to cover more people in this small rural state of farmers, lobstermen, craftsmen and other seasonal workers, which at least until recently, boasted one of the lowest rates of uninsured in the nation. Maine was the only state in New England, and one of 23 nationally, to decline federal money to expand Medicaid under the federal law."