1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
WRAL Here to Help: Health Care Reform 1) Medicare Rebate Checks 2) High-Risk Insurance Pool 3) Docs Medicare Pay
See this contest entry:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
1) Medicare Rebate Checks – 6/10/10
2) High-Risk Insurance Pool – 6/22/10
3) Docs Medicare Pay – 8/23/10
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
1) Medicare Rebate Checks: We explained who would get the Medicare rebate checks; why they were needed; and showed opposing perspectives as to whether this would help fix the Medicare issue.
2) High-Risk Insurance Pool: North Carolina opted to run the federal high-risk insurance pool on its own because of its experience with the state-run, high-risk insurance pool. We examined who this would help; how it would work; and why such a pool is necessary.
3) Docs Medicare Pay: We discovered that dozens of doctors in NC were opting out of Medicare and not accepting new Medicare patients. The story looks at why this was happening and the challenges it creates for Medicare patients.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
No
5. Explain types of human sources used.
In all three stories, we found compelling people to interview who have fallen through the cracks of health insurance. We also show the challenges these people have to access health care and purchase insurance.
6. Results (if any).
Our goal with this series is to help explain what the new Health Policy law means and how it affects people in North Carolina.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Build a database of resources, experts, non-profits, and organizations dedicated to health care to find those compelling interviews