This body of work shows America’s health care system as it affects citizens. The entry includes stories about a middle-class family that surprisingly and suddenly found themselves priced out of the individual health insurance market, a single mother whose child is on SCHIP, a family with employer-sponsored health insurance and how they decide which plan to choose and how much to set aside in an HSA. Other stories focus on the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes with a comparison of the disparities in care between impoverished East Los Angeles and that in wealthier West Los Angeles. One sidebar explores the Mexican concept of the promotora, a person who provides health information to the community, while another looks at the the business case for prevention. Brink’s story “Care in Need of a Cure” questioned the long-held American pride that the U.S. has the best health care system in the world and “The Toll of Racism” explored the reasons behind the stark reality that black men in America get sicker and die younger than white men.
Judges Comments: Susan Brink’s stories on everything from children’s health insurance, diabetes, racial health disparities and the American health care system’s cracks showed a breadth and depth of knowledge that makes a great beat reporter.