James Flanery
Issues that concern me:
Reuters received a gold award worth $5,000 on Wednesday for their report on US health insurers dropping patients after they were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Their investigation, based on reporting from Lewis Krauskopf and Washington-based reporter Murray Waas, revealed that a giant health insurer had targeted policyholders recently diagnosed with breast cancer for investigations and cancelled policies. An exhaustive study of records led to the story by Krauskopf and Waas.
“We published the Murray Waas story in April and the reaction was swift,” said Claudia Parsons, editor for enterprise reporting. “The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats urged insurers to end the policy.
Within days of the Murray Waas story, one insurer announced it would stop dropping coverage for all customers after they get sick.
The fourth annual Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism were presented in Phoenix, Arizona.■