Maxwell Nix

This year, Reuters took home gold in the Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism. Reuters’ $5,000 winning piece, “Diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Dropped by Insurer” was written by Murray Waas. The investigative article, examined the the dubious practices of WellPoint, the nation’s largest insurance company. The Murray Waas story disclosed that WellPoint had developed special computer algorithms to target policyholders diagnosed with breast cancer. These patients were then singled out by WellPoint with the intent to cancel their policies.