As Banking Goes Mobile, Branch Closures Rip Through Local Economy

Phil Arlia has been dispensing medication in Pitcairn since 1968, but he was more than a pharmacist.

He was a kind of banker.

“We always had a courtesy of cashing customers’ paychecks, state checks, any kind of check,” said Arlia, owner of Phil’s Pharmacy on Broadway Boulevard.

But he stopped cashing checks when the borough’s only remaining bank, a Citizens Bank branch, closed last March. Arlia no longer had fast access to cash to replenish his register when it got low.

The branch closure made it more difficult for Pitcairn residents to access cash to spend at local businesses.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/7501236-74/bank-branch-banking#ixzz3QcH1zOMS
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Pennsylvania’s CHIP Program Has Growing Numbers

As hard times and high unemployment rates continue across the country, a program that aims to cover all uninsured children and teens in Pennsylvania has seen steady growth regionally and across the state.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, was launched in Pennsylvania in 1992 and was used as a model for the federal program four years later, according to state Insurance Department spokeswoman Melissa Fox. As of this month, CHIP covered nearly 194,500 children and teens, about a 17 percent increase from 2007.

Locally, CHIP enrollment has also seen growth. In Lackawanna County, nearly 3,000 kids and teens were covered by CHIP, a 22 percent increase since 2007. Luzerne County saw a 33 percent jump in members during the same time frame, with about 4,600 kids and teens covered right now.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/children-s-health-insurance-program-seeing-steady-increases-1.1249337#ixzz1hghhKmT1