Kate Giammarise | WESA
Kate Giammarise focuses her reporting on poverty, social services and affordable housing. Before joining WESA, she covered those topics for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for nearly five years; prior to that, she spent several years in the paper’s Harrisburg bureau covering the legislature, governor and state government. She was part of the P-G staff that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting on the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
She has won numerous state and local awards for her reporting and was honored with a 2020 Keystone Media Award for her beat reporting on poverty. She can be reached at kgiammarise@wesa.fm or 412-697-2953.
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Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission wants to know if low-income utility assistance programs could be streamlined to make enrollment easier. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has the details. -
A pandemic water assistance program the state operated last year ended in October when federal funds ran out. But Pennsylvania officials recently announced the program will get a second life.
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Big changes will be coming to Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program, starting April first. A coalition of health advocacy organizations is calling on the state to make sure it has enough staff to handle the paperwork. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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This month marks the 30th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program — or CHIP. It served as a model for the national CHIP, which has insured millions of kids.
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A report released Tuesday calls on Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro to make improvements to the state’s Unemployment Compensation system. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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Though Social Security Administration field offices have reopened for in-person services, there continue to be obstacles for people seeking Social Security disability benefits. That’s according to a report released earlier this month by a legal advocacy group. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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A bill signed Thursday by Gov. Tom Wolf will retroactively lift driver’s license suspensions for potentially thousands of people who had non-driving related offenses. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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The state legislature allocated $100 million in this year’s budget to address mental health needs. And legislators appointed a 24-member commission to recommend how these one-time funds should be spent. But WESA’s Kate Giammarise reports it is unlikely the funds will be disbursed this year.
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Starting Saturday, more than 174,000 additional households statewide will be able to qualify for help with their groceries. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has the details.
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A new rule recently finalized by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to lower the cost of some hearing aids. But high prices for the devices are still an issue for many people. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
