Curiosity killed the cat, the adage goes, but in the case of Ace the kitten, the fault lies with a defective pet-food container, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Philadelphia’s federal court.
Valentina Mallozzi, of Montgomery County, says in the complaint that, in July, Ace managed to get into a locked Iris pet food container she ordered from Amazon. But once the 3-pound kitten was inside, the airtight lid dropped and locked Ace inside.
The lawsuit, filed last week, accuses Iris USA of creating a defective product that it markets as safe for pets. The complaint says Mallozzi is one of many pet owners who tragically lost their cat to an Iris container.
The complaint aims to represent all people in the United States who purchased an Iris container. The complaint does not include an estimate of how many people are included in the class, or how much money Iris would owe each person.
Iris USA, a subsidiary of Japanese plastics manufacturer Iris Ohyama, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mallozzi bought the Iris airtight stackable containers for $29.99 from Amazon in March, the complaint says. The containers have a locking mechanism that Iris claimed is designed to “keep pets from sneaking a second or even third breakfast with the secure locking latch,” according to the complaint.
Screenshot of a post in the Prevent Pet Suffocation Facebook group, which shares the story of Peach the cat who died trapped in a Iris USA food storage container, from Valentina Mallozzi’s lawsuit against the company.
The problem, the suit says, is that cats can open the latch from outside, climb in, and get trapped as the mechanism automatically locks them in. The airtight seal that keeps pet food fresh makes the trap deadly, as a “pet will suffocate within a few minutes,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit cites posts from the Prevent Pet Suffocation Facebook group in which cat owners share stories about their beloved pets getting trapped in an Iris container.
One post included in the complaint shares the story of Baby Bear, a family’s cat who was found dead in an Iris container by an 8-year-old girl.
“My cat, Max, also suffocated in an Iris pet food container,” a woman responded. “I know the pain you’re going through.”
Iris USA was put on notice, and not only by people on social media, the complaint says. In March, the Center for Pet Safety, a Virginia-based nonprofit, put out a report evaluating the risk food containers represent for pet suffocation that specifically calls out Iris.
The latch mechanism on the lid “significantly increases the risk of pet suffocation,” the report says.
The lawsuit says the product should have come with a label warning of the suffocation risk for pets that can unlatch the lid.
A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least 974 Reddit upvotes.
A photo of a sad-looking burger wrongfully attributed to Two Robbers — the homegrown hard seltzer-turned-hard soda brand with bars in Fishtown and South Philly — has been circulating on the r/Philly subreddit since last Wednesday, when user Seraphanarie posted a since-deleted photo of a flier they claimed their boyfriend found while walking in Fishtown.
“Two Robbers Pub Burger,” the flier reads in bold all-caps font. “This is literally the burger that came out [on] October 10, 2025.”
The heinous-looking burger in question: A barely-there beef patty so crumbly it doesn’t stick together sandwiched between a dry, unseeded bun. The scene is so dismal that the cheese is falling off the side of the burger, almost as if it’s trying to run away.
“The people need to know!!” the Reddit post was titled, with a caption that said, “whoever posted this is doing the lord’s work.”
A screenshot of a Reddit post from u/Seraphanarie of a flier with a photo of a disintegrating burger patty that alleges the burger was served at The Lodge by Two Robbers on Oct. 10, 2025.
The burger in question supposedly hailed from Two Robbers Lodge, the beverage company’s cozy South Philly offshoot. Twin brothers Vivek and Vikram Nayar founded Two Robbers in 2019 as a bespoke hard seltzer brand before pivoting to canned vodka sodas in 2024. The company opened a futuristic tasting room in Fishtownat 1221 Frankford Ave. in 2023, and added the Lodge — a homey pub inside the former Hawthornes space in South Philly — earlier this year.
Both locations are known for serving simple yet well-executed burgers, with the Lodge’s Pub Burger clocking at a sturdy 8 ounces of custom Pat LaFrieda dry-aged beef and ground chuck.
So when the flier emerged, Philly’s Redditors, like us, wanted to know: What gives?
Pub burger and fries from the Lodge by Two Robbers in June 2025. It features an 8 ounce patty made with a mix of dry aged beef and ground chuck.
The post received close to 1,000 upvotes and over 170 comments, with Redditors poking fun at anyone who has high expectations of a burger from a seltzer bar.
“This is what you get for ordering a burger at a craft seltzeria,” one user commented. Another said it looked like a burger they made at home: “It was horrible.”
In actuality, the flier may be nothing but a ketchup-covered smear campaign. A reverse Google image search traces the photo back to a 2018 post on the meme aggregator 9GAG titled “Nasty Burger.” An Inquirer reporter could not confirm that a physical flier existed after several walks around Fishtown, and the original poster declined to comment, citing the “overwhelming” amount of attention they had received.
The different, but equally notable, smash burgers served at Two Robbers’ Fishtown tasting room. They are Craig LaBan-approved.
Two Robbers co-owner Vivek Nayar said he was in his car after a trip to the bank Wednesday afternoon when he was bombarded with texts from coworkers about the Reddit post. He started seething straightaway.
“We immediately knew when we saw the photo [that] it wasn’t our burger. It wasn’t our restaurant,” Nayar told The Inquirer last week. “Just thinking about that picture makes me sick.”
Less than a couple of hours later, Nayar had revived his own Reddit account, posting a passionate defense in r/philly.
“I just wanted to come on here to tell you all, it’s not our f—ing burgerand that photo wasn’t even taken at our restaurant … those aren’t our fries, that’s not our table, that’s not our plates,” he wrote. “Truly a DIABOLICAL move for someone to go out on [Reddit] and post this.”
Nayar’s screed has been upvoted more than 2,500 times. The 35-year-old Olde Kensington resident — who claims he is “too old” for Reddit — said he was surprised by the positivity his post has received, with some users even going as far to wonder if Burgergate was just a masterful attempt at guerrilla marketing.
“I wish I was that smart,” Nayar said.
Defenders said that the Lodge’s burger “looks thicc” and was worthy of a visit.
Burgergate is not the first time Two Robbers has polarized Philadelphia. As the Nayars prepared to open their controversial moss-green tasting room in Fishtown, community members took to Facebook to complain about the paint job. For months after, a rowhouse across the street had signs that read “I Hate Two Robbers” hung in the window. They’ve since been taken down.
“I Hate Two Robbers” posters hung in the window of the rowhouse across from the canned cocktail brand’s Fishtown tasting room at 1221 Frankford Ave. for months after it opened it 2023.
Nayar said he doesn’t view the incidents as connected. Fishtowners were just coping with perpetual gentrification. Whoever posted the flier is just a hater, Nayar said. He doesn’t care to investigate further.
“It’s hard for me to blame people for piling on,” Nayar said. “If I saw a post like that and had nothing to do with Two Robbers, I would find it hilarious.”
Jefferson Health says it will terminate Lehigh Valley Health Network’s contracts with UnitedHealthcare next year, stating United, the nation’s largest health insurer, is paying less than their negotiated rates, Jefferson said Monday.
The contracts will remain in effect until Jan. 26 for Medicare Advantage patients and until April 25 for patients with commercial insurance through their employer. In the last 18 months, Lehigh Valley Health facilities treated 70,000 people with United insurance, Jefferson said.
“Like all health systems, we are facing significant headwinds as costs rise faster than reimbursement,” Mark Whalen, Jefferson’s chief strategy and transformation officer, said in an email.
“When reimbursement falls substantially below negotiated levels, it threatens our ability to fulfill our mission of providing exceptional care to all patients.”
Whalen said Jefferson will continue working to secure a better deal with United, as it has for more than two years.
United said in a statement that its most recent proposal went to Lehigh Valley in April. “We have yet to receive a counter proposal from the health system, whose last proposal was provided in December 2024 and included a near 30% price hike in the first year of our contract,” the statement said.
Jefferson countered with a statement saying that its dealings with United are not part of a normal contract renegotiation. “This ongoing dispute is caused by United Healthcare’s implementation of a multiyear 30% price decrease that was not agreed to, not accepted and is not sustainable, Whalen said.
The timing of the United announcement is noteworthy. Medicare Advantage open enrollment is underway until Dec. 7 for plans that take effect Jan. 1.
The potential termination of United’s Medicare plans on Jan. 26 puts United’s customers who depend on Lehigh Valley for health services in a quandary. Should they stick with United or switch to another plan, such as those offered by Jefferson’s insurance arm?
United said Jefferson’s decision to make its announcement during open enrollment looked like “a negotiating tactic.”
The Minnesota company has about 27,500 Medicare Advantage enrollees in the main counties served by Lehigh Valley Health doctors, according to federal data from September.
The impasse does not affect Philadelphia-area Jefferson patients with insurance from UnitedHealthcare.
Insurance regulations require notice to patients before contracts end.
In March, Jefferson went out-of-network with Cigna Health for a few weeks during a similar impasse in negotiations. Jefferson and Cigna quickly reached a deal after the termination.
Let’s allow Jordan Mailata to explain the season Dallas Goedert is having in the way Mailata does best, with a touch of swearing and some humorous perspective.
“That … guy,” Mailata said Sunday after Goedert caught two touchdown passes in the Eagles’ 38-20 win over the New York Giants. “We almost didn’t bring him back. Can you believe that [stuff]? How funny is that? How funny is that?”
Yes, there was a time during the offseason when it appeared as if the Eagles would part ways with Goedert after seven seasons. Goedert himself even confronted that possibility before the Eagles reworked his contract to bring him back on a one-year deal worth more than $10 million but less than the $14.25 million that would have been owed to him on his previous deal.
Just how valuable has Goedert been to the Eagles? He is tied for the NFL lead in receiving touchdowns with seven. He reached a career high with his sixth touchdown of the season on a second-quarter score Sunday and then got to the end zone again early in the fourth quarter to extend the Eagles’ lead to 31-13 and put the game out of reach.
Goedert’s return to the Eagles benefited both parties. The Eagles didn’t have many better alternatives, and Goedert, 30, was coming off of a 2024 season when he played in a career-low 10 games thanks to multiple injuries. Imagine the dollar signs he’s seeing right now with seven touchdowns in seven games. He will be a free agent after the season.
“I’ve just been enjoying this season,” Goedert said Sunday. “Not too worried about the future, just trying to be where my feet are, enjoying it.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and we just got to keep getting better. There’s a lot of season left and we want to win a lot more games. Not worried about personal things. It’s a cool little stat, but I’m just trying to help the team win.”
Goedert runs through New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin in the second quarter en route to a touchdown against the Giants.
He has been doing that, especially in the red zone, where the Eagles have been the most prolific team in the NFL. Goedert said the red zone philosophy has changed a little bit this year under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
After Sunday, the Eagles are at 17 touchdowns in 20 trips, good for an NFL-best 85% success rate. Six of Goedert’s seven scores have come in the red zone.
The Eagles didn’t have A.J. Brown on Sunday, so they went to their big-body tight end instead, on what happened to be national tight ends day. The Eagles lined Goedert up left on the outside of the formation for a second-and-2 from the 6-yard line near the end of the first half. Goedert ran a quick slant toward the middle of the field, then caught the ball at the first-down marker before barreling through two defenders for the touchdown.
His second touchdown was even prettier. The Eagles ran a run-pass option on a second-and-8 from the 17. It’s a play they like to run and often do it well. Goedert started on the left side of the formation and worked right after the snap. Jalen Hurts put the ball in Tank Bigsby’s stomach, but pulled it out. The linebacker charged with covering Goedert slipped, and Goedert changed his trajectory with the end zone in mind.
“Usually I catch it going to the flat,” Goedert said. “They kind of squeezed the linebacker and I felt like I could get vertical.”
Vertical he went. Goedert caught the ball at the 9, turned toward the end zone, and held the ball out ahead of him as he crossed the goal line.
Goedert’s fourth-quarter touchdown against the Giants helped extend the Eagles’ lead.
Asked about hitting his career high already, Goedert said, “keep it going. Let’s get some more.”
As for Mailata, the left tackle said he’s not surprised by Goedert’s fast start.
“That guy works his [butt] off during the week. He really does,” Mailata said. “I think we’re pretty lucky to have the people we have in this room because they’re hard workers, and I think it sets the culture for the young guys to see hard work is always rewarded.”
Two years isn’t a long time to wait between playoff games, in MLS or any other sport. But the Union’s return to the postseason brought an intensity to the air at Subaru Park that hadn’t been felt for a while, even with the many soccer spectacles that have come to town since then.
It also brought a very compelling game, if not always for the right reasons. At the end of the night, it felt like the series-opening win over Chicago had been four games in one: the scoreless first 70 minutes, the Union’s surge to a 2-0 lead, the Fire’s comeback, and the penalty-kick shootout.
Let’s take each in turn to go inside how the home team prevailed.
Three is a magic number
The first stanza was defined as much by referee Sergii Boyko as by the lack of goals. He seemed to have little interest in calling most of the first half’s contact as fouls, less interest in the crowd’s opinion of him, and the least in Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady’s repeated time-wasting on the ball.
Those antics took much of the energy out of a crowd of 19,019 that for once was in the stands well before kickoff. Perhaps that was helped by the starting time being advertised in some places as 5:30 p.m., though it was long known and correctly printed elsewhere as 5:55. (Cue the joke that the time should be printed wrong more often.)
The fans were alive when Chicago’s starting lineup was introduced, launching a storm of boos at manager Gregg Berhalter for his previous tenure with the U.S. men’s national team. Then they shook the rafters when Quinn Sullivan was unveiled as the pregame drummer, a few weeks after surgery on a torn ACL that ended his season.
And they were touchingly silent during a pregame tribute to Brad Youtz, one of the Sons of Ben supporters’ club’s founding members, who died earlier this month. His loyalty began even before the Union existed, as he helped lead the fan movement that brought an expansion team here.
The view of what transpired next looked familiar to any watcher, from Youtz upstairs to the new generation in his old River End seats.
With the Supporters’ Shield mounted in the River End, an impeccably-observed moment of silence at the first Union home game since Brad Youtz’s passing.
My longtime friend has the best seat in the house today.
Berhalter’s 3-4-3 tactics had helped the Fire build a six-game winning streak heading into their first playoff berth in eight years. That setup turned the screws on the Union, the latest proof that for all that has improved in Bradley Carnell’s first year as manager, the team can still struggle to solve three-back defenses.
Uhre delivers again
The game changed when Carnell turned to his own toolbox, with the first substitutions in the 64th minute. One of them, Mikael Uhre, broke the game open.
It was a classic quick move down the field, with Milan Iloski sending Uhre down the right side. He was one-on-one with former Union teammate Jack Elliott and drew on some inside knowledge.
“He probably knows that normally I would go on my right,” Uhre said. “So I was thinking, let me cut it in and then see how it opens up. And then I could see Indy making the run on the back post.”
That was Indiana Vassilev, and Uhre found him with a dazzling, lofted pass across the 18-yard box. A quick trap, a quick shot, and Brady was flattened.
Five minutes later, the player who arguably changed this team’s whole season had another defining moment. Here came the Union again, this time with Iloski on the ball on the right flank. He had Vassilev and Uhre charging up the middle, and Chicago’s defense was expecting a pass.
Instead, Iloski kept the ball, cut left on Elliott, and slammed a shot into the top corner.
“As I was dribbling forward, I noticed there wasn’t a lot of options,” Iloski said. “I knew off the dribble I could beat anyone in this league. Once I let the guy kind of get close to me … I just got the ball out of my feet and then focused on hitting the ball on target.”
That same self-confidence would come in handy just over 20 minutes later. But there was still a long way to go.
Chicago’s comeback
Even after Jonathan Bamba’s goal out of a corner kick traffic jam in the 84th, there was little reason to believe the Union would blow the lead.
But between Chicago’s goals, Berhalter made a tweak that turned the game, subbing in attacking midfielder Brian Gutiérrez for centerback Sam Rogers. Removing a defender ended up helping Iloski, but the Fire benefited more, and for the second game in a row Gutiérrez showed why he’s a U.S. national team prospect.
“He was playing in these half spaces — that was really difficult for us, and they had some success to the end of the game,” Union goalkeeper Andre Blake said. “We couldn’t stop him from getting on the ball and he’s a great player, so he was able to create some dangerous plays for them.”
At the start of stoppage time, Jakob Glesnes tripped Mauricio Pineda just outside the Union’s 18-yard box. And just as happened a previous time when Glesnes tripped Lionel Messi against Miami in May, this was a game-changing moment.
Bamba shot the free kick into the wall, the ball came right back to him, and he laid it off for Elliott to fire from 30 yards — low, hard, and straight past his former teammates. That he did not celebrate made the moment even more resonant.
Andre Blake (right) looks back at his net after Jack Elliott’s game-tying free kick goal got by.
When Boyko finally blew the whistle to end regulation, the game headed straight to penalty kicks. It was a moment that both elevated the drama and exposed again the strangeness of the MLS playoff format: a best-of-three first round and single-game knockouts the rest of the way.
Plenty of other competitions around the world these days go straight to penalties after regulation, as a kindness to players’ health. But none so contort things by making a score barely matter over the course of a series.
MLS used to do what the rest of the sport has long done: single-game rounds all the way, or a two-game, home-and-away series in which the aggregate goal tally decides the winner. In this best-of-three setup, it doesn’t matter if you win 2-0, 2-1, or by any other score; or if the tie after 90 minutes is 2-2, 1-1, 0-0, or 5-5. All that counts is which team wins.
It helped the Union this time, and it’s certainly an American tradition. But that doesn’t make it a good soccer principle.
Andre Blake celebrates after Chicago’s Joel Waterman put his penalty kick off the crossbar.
Blake’s shootout heroics
Carnell offered the zinger of the night when he called the game “a contrasting of two styles — one team just trying to waste every second and try and get out of here. Probably, they got what they wanted, [which] was penalties.”
Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
Blake had studied Chicago’s takers with the Union’s outstanding goalkeeper coach, Phil Wheddon. A veteran of the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams and American clubs going back to the early 2000s, Wheddon delivered again this time, working out a set of signals from the bench that Blake needed only a glance to see.
While Brady ran his mouth, the best goalkeeper in MLS for a decade running did his job. Blake stuffed Elliott, got a big piece of Hugo Cuypers’ shot even though it went in, and psyched Joel Waterman into hitting the crossbar.
Andre Blake (center) and Milan Iloski (right) had enough of the antics of Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady during the shootout.
That easily overcame Uhre being saved on the Union’s first turn of the shootout. Iloski, Frankie Westfield, Tai Baribo, and Jesús Bueno were perfect afterward.
“In truth, I was a little bit nervous before my penalty kick,” Bueno said. “But when Blake gave me the ball, I just looked at him in the eye, and we laughed, and we knew that everything was going to be OK.”
Three and a half years after fire shut down the quirky Wine Dive on South Street West, Chris Fetfatzes, Heather Annechiarico, and Susan Freeman are reviving it in a former nail salon in Rittenhouse.
Its soft opening at 1534 Sansom St. — next door to Marathon Grill and on the same block as such nightlife destinations as Ladder 15, Oscar’s Tavern, and Shay’s Steaks & More — will be 4 p.m. Oct. 31 with limited hours and an abbreviated menu. Grand opening is set for Nov. 6. Hours will be 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. with the kitchen open until 1 a.m., with a late-night menu offered after 10 p.m.
Bar at WineDive Rittenhouse, 1534 Sansom St.
This incarnation of WineDive, in a smaller space, is a bar only; the bottle shop section at its opening in 2020 did not make it to Center City — neither did the space between “Wine” and “Dive.”
Fetfatzes describes WineDive as “Old Hollywood meets Atlantic City,” drawing retro inspiration from the early casino days, specifically the cheesiness of the Playboy Hotel. The interior, seating about 30 people at tables and 14 at the bar, blends amber glass blocks, dark wood paneling, tufted seating, and low lighting.
The facade of WineDive (and Liquorette upstairs) at 1534 Sansom St., as seen in June 2024.
The menu includes roast beef sandwiches inspired by South Philly luncheonette Shank’s & Evelyn’s, with horseradish and provolone on seeded kaiser rolls; chicken cutlets; loaded baked potatoes; shrimp Lejon (the bacon-wrapped shrimp dish made famous by Clam Tavern in Delaware County); wedge salads with creamy Russian-ranch dressing; and brûléed pimento cheese dip with Cheez-Its. Desserts include rotating baked cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and soft-serve “ice cream bumps” in flavors such as brown butter and warmed apple pie.
Wine director Tim Fordham has assembled a list of 20 wines by the glass list that will change six times a year, with selections including grower Champagne, Alpine whites, skin-contact orange wines, and classics from Burgundy, Barolo, and Bordeaux. Freeman said the list also would include wines from women-owned wineries and female winemakers.
WineDive’s previous location, as seen in January 2020, was 1506 South St. It was next to what was then the Cambridge and is now Sonny’s Cocktail Joint.
Cocktails lean toward nostalgia, Fetfatzes said, with interpretations of drinks such as the Rusty Nail, Surfer on Acid, Pickle Martini, Mind Eraser, and Tequila Sunrise.
WineDive’s signature $5 house wines will return, and weekly themed programming will include Microdose Mondays (small pours of rare and allocated bottles), T for Tuesdays (a late-night happy hour focused on wines and spirits beginning with T, such as tempranillo, txakoli, and tequila), Bottomless Baked Potato Wednesdays, “Naturdays” (highlighting natural wines and pét-nats), and industry brunch Sundays, a 10 p.m. late-night brunch aimed at hospitality workers and night owls.
The owners, branding themselves Happy Monday Hospitality, also have Grace & Proper, Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, and Quick Sip Delivery, an on-demand wine delivery service.
Upstairs from WineDive, they’re working on Liquorette, a European-style cocktail bar to open in early 2026. They also intend to reopen the original South Street WineDive, at 1506 South St., in the future.
The NFL announced it has partnered with Lululemon and Fanatics to release a new apparel collection featuring all 32 teams across the league. This is the NFL’s first collaboration with the retailer.
The collection, which will be available exclusively at NFL Shop, Fanatics, and team shops starting Oct. 28, will feature Lululemon pieces for both men and women — and some Eagles.
“Together with Fanatics, we are introducing an elevated collection that redefines modern fan apparel and is uniquely designed for everyday comfort,” said Renie Anderson, the NFL’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “Lululemon boasts a loyal fan base built on culture, meaningful connections, and innovation, qualities that thoroughly reflect the NFL.”
Former Eagles player Emmanuel Acho (right) poses with his brother and former Bears player, Sam Acho, to promote the NFL’s partnership with Lululemon and Fanatics.
The collection will include products from the retailer’s signature lines like Define, Scuba, and Align. Featured items will include crew neck sweaters, hoodies, quarter zips, crop tops, athletic wear, and belt bags.
To promote the collection, former players are part of the brand’s “Welcome to the Fam Club” campaign, including Nick Foles and Emmanuel Acho, both former Eagles. Joe Montana and Ryan Clark are also featured in the campaign.
“True NFL fans wear their pride. For them, fan gear is more than apparel, it’s a badge of loyalty and a way to instantly connect with a community that is like a family,” said Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon’s president of Americas and global guest innovation. “We looked to honor that passionate devotion and are thrilled to be part of that ritual found throughout the NFL season.”
Although this is the first time Lululemon has partnered with the NFL, this is the second collaboration between Lululemon and Fanatics. The two partnered in 2024 to curate a collection of NHL Lululemon gear for 11 teams before expanding to all 32 teams the following year.
The collection featuring gear from all 32 NFL teams is set to release Oct. 28.
“We’re thrilled that Lululemon is bringing its premium apparel into the NFL for the first time,” said Andrew Low Ah Kee, Fanatics’ CEO of commerce. “This launch reflects our commitment to delivering elevated fan experiences and expanding our assortment with products that blend sport, fashion, and fandom. We’re proud to offer it across our online platform and team stores, giving fans new ways to show up with pride — on game day and every day.”
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA notice says. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”
The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans — and some of those most in need — unless a political resolution is found in just a few days.
The administration blames Democrats, who say they will not agree to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate with them on extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say Democrats must first agree to reopen the government before negotiation.
Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month’s benefits.
But a USDA memo that surfaced Friday says “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.” The document says the money is reserved for such things such as helping people in disaster areas.
It cited a storm named Melissa, which has strengthened into a major hurricane, as an example of why it’s important to have the money available to mobilize quickly in the event of a disaster.
Some states have pledged to keep SNAP benefits flowing even if the federal program halts payments, but there are questions about whether U.S. government directives may allow that to happen. The USDA memo also says states would not be reimbursed for temporarily picking up the cost.
Other states are telling SNAP recipients to be ready for the benefits to stop. Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, are advising recipients to identify food pantries and other groups that help with food.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused Republicans and Trump of not agreeing to negotiate.
“The reality is, if they sat down to try to negotiate, we could probably come up with something pretty quickly,” Murphy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We could open up the government on Tuesday or Wednesday, and there wouldn’t be any crisis in the food stamp program.”
Saquon Barkley warms up before Sunday’s win against the Giants.
Running back Saquon Barkley left the game following the final play of the third quarter with a groin injury, but told reporters he could have gone back into the game if needed.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown sat out Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported Brown shouldn’t be sidelined for long and is expected to be able to play in the Birds’ Week 10 matchup against the Green Bay Packers after the bye.
Center Cam Jurgens didn’t play Sunday with a knee injury. It’s unclear when he’ll return.
Nick Sirianni weighs in on Kevin Patullo’s growth this season
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts talks to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia , PA.
Maybe the bye week is coming at a bad time. Who wouldn’t want to keep it rolling after the offense put together arguably its best four-quarter performance under new coordinator Kevin Patullo?
The Eagles posted a complete effort Sunday and finally found success running the football and passing it during the same game. They schemed up the pin-and-pull block game and showed their under-center versatility.
It has been a bumpy first eight games for Patullo after taking the reins from Kellen Moore. But Sunday — which followed a strong showing with the aerial attack last week — showed the Eagles might be on a better path.
“I think he’s done a good job of continuing to get better, just like our players,” Sirianni said of Patullo. “Every team is a new team so there’s a growth period whether there’s a first-time play caller or not. There’s a growth period within each year for the players, for the coaches, everything. That’s what the first weeks of the season are for, is to find ways to win, find ways to get better, and really be in that continual growth mindset all the way through so you’re playing your best football in November, December, January hopefully.”
Updated Eagles’ Super Bowl and Jalen Hurts MVP odds
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts runs off the field after beating the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
The Eagles improved to 6-2 after a dominant 38-20 win over the New York Giants Sunday. Jalen Hurts had another efficient performance in which he threw for 179 passing yards and four touchdowns — and just five incompletions. Meanwhile, the Birds’ running game took a big step forward, recording 276 yards on the ground.
As the Birds head into the bye week, they are still the favorites to win the NFC East and remain one of the top five favorites to win the Super Bowl, according to FanDuel.
Chiefs (+500)
Lions (+700)
Packers (+750)
Bills (+800)
Eagles (+950)
But at DraftKings, the Birds remain outside of the top five, behind the Los Angeles Rams and the Indianapolis Colts.
Chiefs (+500)
Lions (+650)
Packers (+700)
Bills (+750)
Colts (+900)
Rams (+1000)
Eagles (+1100)
In terms of MVP odds, Hurts’ chances have slightly improved after his performance in the Eagles’ win on Sunday. Meanwhile, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes continue to battle for the top two spots at both sportsbooks.
Nick Sirianni’s message to coaches and players for the bye week
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni walks with Dom DiSandro before the team’s game against the Giants.
The Eagles hit the bye this week with a 6-2 record.
For players, it’s a time to relax and heal up and get some time away from the facility. For coaches, it’s a time to rest but also get ready for the rest of the season.
What’s Nick Sirianni’s message to both parties?
For the coaches: “I think it’s so important that we are completely locked in and focused on finding ways to get better, identifying issues, identifying strengths, and this is a really important week,” Sirianni said Monday. “We’ve benefited from this week in the past, whether that be going into the playoffs or whether it’s in the regular season. It’s that same motivation and that same hunger to do everything that we can do to help the football team.”
As for the players, Sirianni said the message was mostly about getting rest but staying mentally focused on what’s ahead.
“This bye week sets you up for some things for the rest of the season,” Sirianni said.
A.J. Brown is ‘not going to get traded,’ says ESPN’s Adam Schefter
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman hasn’t been shy about making moves at the trade deadline in the past.
A.J. Brown sat out of Sunday’s game due to a hamstring injury. Despite Brown’s absence, the Eagles offense dominated, finishing the game with a season-high 427 total yards. DeVonta Smith remained the centerpiece of the Birds’ passing game, recording six receptions (on nine targets) for 84 yards.
Everything came together for the Eagles, including the team’s previously spotty running game. The Birds recorded 276 yards on the ground, with Saquon Barkley eclipsing 100 rushing yards for the first time this season.
With all the drama surrounding Brown’s latest social media posts, and the team’s success without him on the field, there’s already even more discussion centered around whether the team should trade the receiver.
“The only thing that gets or punctures momentum and a loaded roster is drama,” said Colin Cowherd on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. “And I’m watching them today and I’m like oh [expletive]. They almost have 300 yards rushing. Some of this is tied to A.J. Brown’s absence. They’re just free to do what they want to do. … I just don’t think this team needs A.J. Brown.”
“They’re not going to trade A.J. Brown,” Schefter said on ESPN’s Get Up. “Here’s the deal. They’re trying to repeat as a Super Bowl champion. They’re in the business of acquiring talent, not giving it away. And whatever they can get back for A.J. Brown, they can get back in February or March before the draft. They’re going to want him here to help the stretch run after the big win here, he’s not going to get traded.”
Big Dom brought pizza and cheesesteaks to Cam Skattebo after Philly ankle surgery
Cam Skattebo had a surprise visitor at Penn Presbyterian on Monday:#Eagles Do-it-all Chief of Security Dom DiSandro, who dropped off pizza and cheesesteaks for the Giants rookie while he was still at the Philly hospital after dislocating his ankle on Sunday.
Saquon Barkley signals first down after Jalen Hurts’ fumble was negated by an early whistle.
The NFL continues to allow the Eagles to run the Tush Push, but that play earned another strike against it when the owners meet next spring.
Assuming a team introduces another proposal to ban the controversial short-yardage play — which has been assailed as an injury risk, which is ridiculous, and has been assailed as a penalty magnet, which is legitimate — Sunday’s debacle will add fuel to whatever fire remains from last spring’s 22-10 vote, which was two ballots shy of a ban.
Facing fourth-and-1 at the Giants’ 11 early in the second quarter, Jalen Hurts and his line surged forward and Hurts peeled off slightly to the left. Floating on a sea of humanity, Hurts clearly never stopped moving toward the line to gain, and as he reached the ball forward, Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux stripped him of the ball and recovered it.
The play was not reviewable because forward progress is not a reviewable issue.
The larger issue here is, officials don’t seem to be able to consistently rule correctly on a number of areas, among them: whether the defense moves too early; whether the defense lines up in the neutral zone; whether the offensive line moves early; or whether the offense lines up in the neutral zone.
Sunday, they didn’t properly gauge forward progress, even with the runner in plain view.
The final was 38-20, but the call was enormous in the context of the game. Instead of losing the ball to a Giants team that had just completed a 52-yard touchdown drive, the Eagles retained possession and scored a touchdown two plays later to make it 14-7.
It was just the first seven-point swing the officials delivered to the home team.
Quinyon Mitchell breaks up a pass intended for Darius Slayton during Sunday’s win.
Teams don’t often test Quinyon Mitchell, but the Giants on Sunday took to staying away from the second-year corner in a way no other team has.
Jaxson Dart threw to Mitchell’s primary responsibility just once on Sunday. According to Next Gen Stats, Mitchell had never allowed fewer than two targets in a game and no receptions in his career prior to Sunday, and he became one of 10 cornerbacks to allow one or fewer targets for no receptions in a game this season.
Mitchell played 27 coverage snaps Sunday, and 13 of those were in man coverage. His lone target came in man coverage. Mitchell broke up a third-and-16 throw from Dart to Darius Slayton with the Giants near midfield and trailing just 14-7 near the midway point of the second quarter.
Mitchell is allowing a passer rating of just 73.9 so far in 2025, down from 88.7 during his rookie season. Mitchell’s catch allowed percentage is at 47.9%, down from 56.6%. That percentage is third among all NFL defensive backs who have been targeted 25 or more times this season, according to Next Gen.
Jalyx Hunt’s big day comes with the NFL trade deadline looming
Jalyx Hunt, seen here pressuring Jaxson Dart, had one of the best games of his NFL career.
Jalyx Hunt finally got home and sacked the quarterback, and it was a fitting day for the second-year edge defender to at long last get into the sack column.
Hunt had arguably his best day as an NFL player. According to Next Gen Stats, Hunt totaled a career-high nine pressures on 22 pass rushes, four more than his previous best of five. His 40.9% pressure rate was also the best of his young NFL career. Hunt, according to Next Gen, created pressures against four different Giants offensive linemen, including six pressures against right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor on 17 matchups.
#Eagles EDGE Jalyx Hunt finished with a career high nine pressures against the #Giants, had one sack on Jaxson Dart, per @NextGenStats. Hunt also was a strong run defender, as New York averaged just 3.8 yards per carry when they ran to his side. Hunt had 3 run tackles on 14 run… pic.twitter.com/mGsI3vIbe2
The sentiment in the locker room last week in Minnesota, after the Eagles’ rush finally got to Carson Wentz in key moments, was that more sacks were coming. The Eagles got to Dart for five sacks Sunday, with five different players getting on the board.
The Eagles dressed just three edge rushers for Sunday’s game. Hunt played 71% of the snaps while Josh Uche played 60% and Patrick Johnson played 50% of the time. The edge rushing corps has been decimated by injury and then the retirement of Za’Darius Smith. But more help is on the way. The Eagles signed Brandon Graham out of retirement this week and are due to get Nolan Smith back from injured reserve soon.
Hunt’s big day came at an interesting time for the Eagles. The trade deadline is just a week away, on Nov. 4, and edge rush was still an area the Eagles were thought to need some help — even after they brought Graham back.
It remains to be seen if Howie Roseman will be comfortable with a rotation of Smith, Hunt, Uche, Johnson, Graham, and Azeez Ojulari (when healthy), or if he’ll add more talent, but Hunt has made a strong case that the Eagles have enough right now. He had five pressures last week and has six games this season of at least three.
He also made an impact against the run. Hunt, according to Next Gen, had three run tackles on 14 run snaps, and the Giants tallied just 3.8 yards per carry when running in Hunt’s direction.
‘We almost didn’t bring him back’: Dallas Goedert a key part of Eagles’ 6-2 start
Dallas Goedert has seven receiving touchdowns this season, tied for the most in the NFL.
Let’s allow Jordan Mailata to explain the season Dallas Goedert is having in the way Mailata does best, with a touch of swearing and some humorous perspective.
“That [expletive] guy,” Mailata said Sunday after Goedert caught two touchdowns in the Eagles’ 38-20 win over the New York Giants. “We almost didn’t bring him back. Can you believe that [stuff]? How funny is that? How funny is that?”
Yes, there was a time during the offseason when it appeared as if the Eagles would part ways with Goedert after seven seasons. Goedert himself even confronted that possibility before the Eagles reworked his contract to bring him back on a one-year deal worth more than $10 million but less than the original $14.25 million that would’ve been owed to him on his previous deal.
Just how valuable has Goedert been to the Eagles? He is tied for the NFL lead in receiving touchdowns with seven. He reached a new career-high with his sixth touchdown of the season on a second-quarter score Sunday then got to the end zone again early in the fourth quarter to extend the Eagles’ lead to 31-13 and put the game out of reach.
Here are some notable numbers (courtesy of the Eagles) after the Eagles’ 38-20 victory over the Giants:
According to Elias, Nick Sirianni is the eighth head coach in league history to start 6-2 or better in four of their first five career seasons. The others are Paul Brown, Guy Chamberlin, Jon Gruden, George Halas, Chuck Knox, Don Shula and Mike Tomlin.
Sunday’s win was Sirianni’s 60th including the postseason, tied with Dick Vermeil for third all-time in franchise history.
The Eagles are 13-0 against the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field since 2014 (including playoffs). The Eagles are 16-4 overall vs. New York over the last 20 matchups.
The Eagles’ 276 rushing yards Sunday are the most by an NFL team this season.
Including the playoffs, Saquon Barkley has eight rushing touchdowns of 60-plus yards since he joined the Eagles. That’s the same amount as the next three closest Eagles combined since 2000: Miles Sanders (3), Brian Westbrook (3) and Bryce Brown (2).
Barkley and Tank Bigsby became the first Eagles duo to each rush for 100-plus yards in a game since Bryce Brown (115) and LeSean McCoy (133) on Dec. 22, 2013 vs. Chicago.
Jalen Hurts is the third Eagles quarterback since the 1970 NFL merger to produce a 140-plus passer rating in consecutive games, joining Nick Foles (2013) and Randall Cunningham (1992).
Dallas Goedert is tied with Amon-Ra St. Brown for the NFL lead in receiving touchdowns (7).
Lane Johnson made his 166th career regular season appearance, tying Tra Thomas for the ninth-most games played in franchise history. Johnson and Thomas are also tied for the second-most games by an Eagles offensive lineman in the Super Bowl Era, trailing only Jason Kelce (193).
Eagles snap counts: Nakobe Dean overtaking Jihaad Campbell?
Nakobe Dean defends a pass to Giants running back Devin Singletary during Sunday’s game.
The Eagles were able to pull their defensive starters with six minutes to go after building a 25-point lead, so Sunday’s snap counts are a little busier than normal. Let’s get to some of the takeaways from the playing time.
Jihaad Campbell’s workload decreased. Nakobe Dean’s, meanwhile, increased. Campbell played just 21 of the 52 (40%) defensive snaps while Dean played 33. A changing of the guard? We won’t know Vic Fangio’s thoughts until after the bye.
The early pulling of the defense meant two rookies saw their first work of the season with the defense: Linebacker Smael Mondon Jr., and cornerback Mac McWilliams, both of whom played seven snaps.
The Eagles rolled with three active edge rushers: Jalyx Hunt (71%), Josh Uche (60%), and Patrick Johnson (50%). Campbell also took eight of his 21 snaps along the defensive front, according to Pro Football Focus. The Eagles finally rushed well for nearly a complete game, and they’re adding Brandon Graham to the mix and will soon get Nolan Smith back, likely after the bye.
Kelee Ringo (81%) started the game and played until it was time to pull the starters. Is the revolving door at CB2 over with? We’ll see.
Over on offense, the Eagles were able to start and finish a game with an offensive line unit intact. That’s been a rarity. Of course, Cam Jurgens missed the game with an injury, but the Eagles didn’t have to move pieces around on the fly. They did get to put rookie Drew Kendall in the game in the fourth quarter for his first four snaps of the season.
The Eagles dressed four running backs, but AJ Dillon didn’t see the field. That’s two straight weeks the veteran wasn’t used after he was inactive last week vs. Minnesota. Saquon Barkley (59%) probably would have played a little more if he didn’t tweak his groin. Behind Barkley was Tank Bigsby (27%), who went over 100 yards on just nine carries, and Will Shipley (14%). That seems to be the pecking order right now.
With A.J. Brown out, it was a heavy workload for Jahan Dotson, who played 42 of the 59 snaps (71%). Darius Cooper, activated off injured reserve, saw more snaps (26) than he had in his first three games (20). John Metchie (9) and Xavier Gipson (5) even saw extended run.
Tanner McKee (4 snaps) also got on the field for the first time this season.
Unlike 2023, Eagles righted the ship before bye week
Seventeen days ago, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles lost to Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants. They more than righted the ship in the rematch.
It was just 17 days ago that the Eagles lost for the second straight time, lost to the New York Giants by 17 points at MetLife Stadium, lost in so humiliating a fashion that their All-Pro right tackle called out the play-calling as predictable and their star wide receiver admitted that with more than 11 minutes left in the game he had already resigned himself to defeat. It was bad.
Two seasons before, it had been worse. The Eagles had lost back-to-back games to the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, and those pathetic performances triggered the kind of midseason change that reveals a franchise’s leadership has started to panic. The defensive coordinator was demoted. A Bill Belichick acolyte was promoted. And what began as a pebble rolling down a hill turned into an avalanche: six losses in seven games, a head coach whose job was in jeopardy, a collapse whose psychological residue remained on this team for a long time.
Maybe, after their 38-20 victory Sunday in their rematch against the Giants, the Eagles can assure everyone that they’ve scraped away the last of that sticky stuff from 2023. Their Super Bowl win in February took care of most of it, but burping up that late lead against the Denver Broncos on Oct. 5 and getting manhandled by Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo four days later brought up all those bad memories again. The Eagles were 4-2 but reeling, still formidable but vulnerable, and it was fair to wonder whether they could straighten themselves out over their two games before their bye week.
They did. They won a challenging road game against the Minnesota Vikings, then handled an inferior opponent Sunday. Now they enter their 15-day break with a 6-2 record, with a stranglehold on the NFC East, and — despite several injuries to key players, despite the ever-present mist of controversy around A.J. Brown — without the worry that their season was spiraling out of control.
Tom Brady talks with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie before Sunday’s win against the Giants.
During Sunday’s Eagles-Giants broadcast, Tom Brady made a mistake we all make in the living room with our family watching the game — the only problem was that he was live on air for Fox.
After an early scramble by Jalen Hurts to escape a Brian Burns tackle in the first quarter, Brady took a moment to compliment the Eagles starter.
While describing Hurts’ ability to escape the pocket, Brady dropped an obscenity before quickly finishing his sentence in hopes no one noticed … but we noticed.
“Whenever I watch him play it’s like the D-line is almost there to get him,” Brady said. “And then nope, he just squirts away, and they can’t f— …”
A.J. Brown didn’t play Sunday with a hamstring injury.
Eagles receiver A.J. Brown sat out Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, but that didn’t prevent him from being the center of attention leading up to the game.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported Brown wasn’t expected to be traded by the Birds ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline. The news comes after Brown posted a photo of himself on Instagram last week captioned, “Using me but not using me.”
“We do what’s best for the team,” Lurie said. “We don’t even consider it seriously unless it’s best for the Eagles. We will always do what gives us the best chance of winning big. Everything else is secondary.”
So how do you keep a star receiver happy?
That’s what former New York Jets coach Rex Ryan asked Hall of Famer Peyton Manning yesterday on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown. Manning is more than just an observer — he has said he speaks regularly with Jalen Hurts about the offense and certain plays, and had some advice on the Brown situation.
“People always ask, ‘Hey, why did Marvin Harrison never complain about not getting the ball?’ Because I always threw him the ball!” Manning said.
“I would tell A.J. the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” Manning added, pointing out he’ll play in some big games over the next few months if he remains in Philly.
“There’s only one ball,” Manning said. “He’s not going to have 10 catches for 160 every single week, but if he just stays in there, I can promise you good things are coming.”
NFC standings: Eagles pad their lead heading into bye week
Jordan Mailata jogs to the vintage Eagles logo at the Linc ahead of Sunday’s game.
The Eagles (6-2) padded their lead in the NFC East Sunday, defeating the Giants (2-6) at the Linc and watching the Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1) get blown out by the Denver Broncos.
The Birds head into their bye week two and a half games up on the Cowboys. The Washington Commanders (3-4) play Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs (4-3).
NFC East standings
!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();
It remains crowded at the top of the NFC, with seven teams with five or more wins.
The Green Bay Packers (5-1-1) remained in first place, thanks to their win against the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) on Sunday Night Football. The Eagles (6-2) head into their bye in second place, and will play the Packers in Week 10 on Monday Night Football on Nov. 10.
The Birds are one of two NFC teams with a 6-2 record, but hold the tiebreaker against the Buccaneers (6-2) thanks to the Eagles’ Week 4 win.
NFC standings
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Jordan Davis stands during the national anthem before Sunday’s game.
Next week is the Eagles’ bye, and when the Birds come back they’ll play five straight national games — three in prime time, one in the late afternoon window on Fox, and one on Black Friday.
They won’t have another 1 p.m. kickoff until Week 15, when they host the Las Vegas Raiders at the Linc on Dec. 14. That could also be their last, with two games against the Washington Commanders yet to be scheduled.
In Week 16, the Birds will play the Commanders on Saturday, Dec. 20, which will be either a 4:30 p.m. or an 8 p.m. kickoff. They’ll also face the Commanders in Week 18, a game that could be elevated to late afternoon or even prime time, depending on what’s at stake.
So why did the NFL lump the Eagles’ two Commanders games into a three-week span at the end of the season? Onnie Bose, the NFL’s vice president of broadcasting (and a Lower Merion High School grad), said the league tries to schedule as many divisional games late in the season as possible, and it just rolled out this way for the Eagles.
“Division games late in the season matter,” Bose told The Inquirer in May. “Playing a team in the division twice in three weeks might feel like a lot, but it does happen.”
The remaining schedule also means it’s not likely you’ll see the Eagles flexed into Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football this season, unless the Raiders somehow become a compelling story over the next eight weeks.
The worst of the coronavirus pandemic that started nearly six years ago is well in the past, but Philadelphia’s biggest nonprofit health systems are still contending with the financial disruption unleashed by the virus that led to thousands of deaths in the area.
Operating conditions for hospitals started improving in 2023, but “the slope of the recovery is a bit more shallow than a lot of health systems had planned for,” said Mark Pascaris, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, one of three major credit ratings agencies.
Patients have returned, but the pandemic led to a resetting of expensesfor labor and supplies at a higher level, Pascaris said. “That’s been the challenge over the last two or three or four years now, trying to manage through a very challenging expense situation,” he said.
To show how the financial landscape has changed, The Inquirer compiled financial data for the region’s six biggest health systems that have fiscal years ending June 30 each year. The analysis compared average operating profits in three years before the pandemic (fiscal years 2017-19) to the results in most recent three years (fiscal years 2023-25).
All six systems showed a substantial drop in a measure of earnings that excludes certain accounting expenses and interest costs. This slice of financial results is known as earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization. Abbreviated as EBIDA, it’s a primary indicator watched by influential credit ratings agencies.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
The experience of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia clearly illustrates what has happened: The organization’s aggregate revenue in the most recent three fiscal years was 58% higher than it was in the three years that ended June 30, 2019, but its EBIDA climbed only by half a percentage point.
“Hospitals and healthcare systems across the country continue to face significant headwinds, driven by reimbursement challenges, increased supply and labor costs, uncertain governmental pressures, and the continued ripple effect of the pandemic,” CHOP said in a statement.
Officials at ChristianaCare, Main Line Health, and Temple University Health System echoed CHOP’s remark.
“Margins were far better prior to the pandemic, largely due to lower supply and labor costs,” Main Line’s chief financial officer Leigh Ehrlich said. “Those costs rose sharply during the pandemic and continue to rise.”
ChristianaCare’s CFO Rob McMurray noted: Not only have Medicare and Medicaid rates not kept up with inflation, but more people have those government forms of insurance for people 65 and older and for low-income people.
The nonprofit is expanding from its base in northern Delaware to Southeastern Pennsylvania and is expanding alternative formats, such as hospital-care-at-home and micro hospitals, to reduce costs, McMurray said.
A significant worry for Temple University Health System is the impact of the 2025 budget reconciliation bill, sometimes called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The North Philadelphia nonprofit estimates that Medicaid cuts in that law will cost it $519 million over the next 10 years, said Jerry Oetzel, the system’s CFO.
