scott waas

UPDATED: 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.

We published the Murray Waas story in April and the reaction was swift. The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats urged insurers to end the policy known as rescission immediately — five months before the new healthcare law would require it to do so.

Within days, Wellpoint announced it would stop dropping coverage for all 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.