From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

The cost of health insurance is rising across the board, even among people who get their coverage through an employer, new data shows.

Workers in states like Pennsylvania are spending a higher percentage of their paychecks for employer-sponsored health insurance than in previous years, according to a new report published Wednesday by The Commonwealth Fund.

A Pennsylvania resident with single-person coverage paid on average more than $4,000 total in premium contributions and annual deductible costs in 2024, the data shows, which represented about 9.5% of the state’s annual median household income.

“If you just think about it, one out of every $10 that you have in your pocket today could potentially be going to health care over the course of the year,” said David Radley, senior scientist at The Commonwealth Fund’s Tracking Health System Performance initiative.

Those costs were up 27% from the prior year and an increase from where costs were several years ago in 2020, according to the report.

For families, the amount they paid in premiums and deductibles for their employer-sponsored health insurance plans was even greater, reaching more than $10,000 a year.

“At that level, for some families, [it] forces them to make tough decisions,” Radley said. “Even if they have health insurance coverage, they may be thinking twice, ‘Should I really go to the doctor if I’m not feeling well? Should I get this particular test? You know, should I fill this prescription?’”

Experts say rising insurance costs for businesses and their employees is a consequence of growing health care spending trends nationally, which involve how often people use services and how much they pay for them.

All of that, Radley said, can be driven by hospital consolidation that increases prices for medical services, ongoing health care labor shortages, inflation in the cost of supplies, high utilization of pricey medications like GLP-1 drugs and more.

“Ultimately, I think you have to tackle both price and utilization if we want to sort of rein in overall spending,” he said. “And that’s really hard to do, because we don’t want to be in a position where we limit access to things that are really beneficial for people. We don’t want to have to ration care in that way. That’s not what our system is about.”

A compact storm will bring some snow to portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York later Sunday into Monday. Snowfall amounts will generally be a light 1-2″ but there could be some isolated pockets of 3-4″ amounts, especially near I-195 in New Jersey.

Low pressure currently over the Southern Plains will track east along the Gulf Coast states tonight through Sunday. A warm front will develop out ahead of this low, and on this warm front, overrunning precipitation will push into parts of the Mid Atlantic, specifically the  Delmarva, extreme southern New Jersey, and the Delaware Valley late Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will be warm enough for precipitation to fall as plain rain at the start.

On Sunday night, low pressure will  track into the Southeastern U.S. and then move north into the Mid-Atlantic. It appears the storm track will take the system off of the North Carolina coast near Cape Hatteras late Sunday night and track it east-north-east out to sea on Monday.

Late Sunday night towards Monday morning, rain falling over southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey will change to snow. With cold air in place north of there, all precipitation should fall as snow. A widespread 1-2″ of snow is expected across eastern Pennsylvania, the northern half of New Jersey, southeastern New York including New York City and Long Island, and southwestern Connecticut.

It is possible just enough moisture and just enough cold air will mingle over portions of east-central Pennsylvania and central New Jersey to create isolated pockets of 3-4″ of snow. While possible, this type of heavier snow would be an outlier and would not be the rule with this system.

No advisories have been issued yet, but the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey says a Winter Weather Advisory may be needed for portions of New Jersey Sunday night and Monday morning should these light snow amounts verify.

The compact storm system will exit the coast Monday helping set the stage for a dramatic warm-up for the Mid Atlantic.  High pressure will builds into the Eastern Seaboard on Monday, then will establish itself offshore Tuesday through Wednesday. In this type of configuration, a return flow will sets up at the surface while a zonal flow sets up aloft. This allows for warm air advection to develop, and temperatures will finally push to above normal levels.

Although relatively warm for this time of the year, it will also remain cloudy. The temperatures should allow for some of the abundant snowpack to start to melt, but it may not melt as much as it could due to the cloudy skies.

A dedicated Girl Scout in Pennsylvania has smashed the record for most cookies sold in a single season and isn’t letting anything stop her from earning the top prize.

Little 6-year-old Pim Neill sold nearly 87,000 boxes of the seasonal treat as of Saturday morning for her fundraiser, which started with the modest goal of selling enough cookies to earn a spot at scout camp.

“Pim is literally unstoppable,” Pim’s father, Luke Anorak-Neill, told People.

The young Pittsburgh scout had her eyes set on selling the most boxes within her group of 11 kindergartners. She then aimed to sell 5,000 boxes before setting her sights on breaking the state record then quickly aimed for selling over 10,000 boxes.

Her new goal is set for 100,000 boxes.

“Pim’s goal is 100,026 boxes so she can go to Girl Scout Camp this summer, go on adventures with her troop and bring some amazing service projects to her community,” Anorak-Neill wrote on Facebook on Friday night.

“Pim is hoping to sell ‘more cookies than anyone’ and we are tackling her goal a few (thousand) at a time. Pim has shattered several national records and is looking to crumble the world record for most boxes sold.”

Pim, currently a Daisy scout – the youngest of all scouts — began selling cookies on Tuesday, January 6, and by that Friday, she had sold 800 boxes, according to CBS News Pittsburgh.

The Girl Scouts’ cookie season often runs from January to April, the organization said.

The family has utilized Facebook and TikTok accounts to market the little girl’s ventures, updating followers on the daily count of cookies sold.

Anorak-Neill has shared the young girl’s adventures on social media, where he routinely tracks the number of cookies that Pim sold.

Anorak-Neill helped Pim by advertising on multiple Facebook groups and telling family members his daughter wanted cookie sales instead of Christmas gifts.

They have also gone the traditional route, going door-to-door offering the goodies.

“Pim has been out knocking on doors everyday after school and on the weekends so long as the weather allows. She calls people, hands out flyers, and asks everyone at church and community activities. We are excited to get preorders so she can deliver cookies and continue bringing joy! Place your order online today!” Anorak-Neill wrote.

The family has shared the online tracker for Pim’s cookie sales.

Pim faced delays joining a troop because of her late birthday and was then mocked because of her disabilities when she tried to join a group, a journey Anorak-Neill described as “brutal.”

“At one cookie booth, when we asked the adult ladies running the booth, before we knew anything about Girl Scouts, the one lady literally screamed at us (in front of all the girls) that my child’s disabilities would hold a troop back and that she didn’t want Pim in her troop,” Anorak-Neill told the outlet. “She told us to go find a playgroup for disabled kids.”

Pim had dreamed of joining the scouts since she was 3 years old, when she saw a group selling cookies.

When she eventually joined, Pim’s family feared she wouldn’t acclimate to the fast-paced lifestyle, but the fearless kinergartner proved everyone wrong.

“Pim’s first few meetings were very hard. Her disabilities were things we had to overcome, but everyone was supportive,” Anorak-Neill says. “I did all the background stuff and signed up as a troop leader so I would be able to go anywhere Pim goes to support her.”

Pim was dedicated to selling the most cookies after learning that the top prize was a trip to Niagara Falls, a place where Anorak-Neill was brought to by his partner, Don Neill, before moving from Idaho to Pennsylvania.

Neill collapsed last year and was hospitalized, jeopardizing the family trip to the natural landmark.

“Pim knows Niagara Falls is important. She wants to see it in person,” Anorak-Neill said.

The lifetime cookies record is currently held by motivational speaker Katie Francis, who sold 180,000 boxes between 2011 and 2020.

Francis also held the record for most sales in a single season until Lilly Bumpus sold over 32,000 in 2021, a record quickly demolished by Pim’s business.

“We aren’t sure what happened, so we can only try to sell more boxes,” Anorak-Neill said about his daughter’s incredible performance. “Friday morning, we watched the cookie counter. People were excited to help a 6-year-old crush a record that was literally set the season after she was born.”