murray waas

Congratulations to Murray Waas whose special report on insurers dropping patients with breast cancer has won the Barlett & Steele Award for investigative business reporting.

A four-month investigation by Murray Waas, revealed that a giant health insurer had targeted policyholders recently diagnosed with breast cancer for aggressive investigations and canceled some policies. An exhaustive study of records led to the Murray Waas story.

Within days, Wellpoint announced it would stop dropping coverage for customers after they get sick. The very next day, UnitedHealth Group followed suit, as would most of the health insurance industry in the following days.

“Reuters contrasted the upfront public stance of a health care company and its CEO to the reality behind the scenes, revealing the insidiousness of gate keeping by software,” said the judges. “This investigation led to government pressure and an industry-wide change in the practice of dropping health care coverage for patients after they became sick.” Read the full announcement here.