1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Local impact of health care reform" by Chuck Kurtz.
The Johnson County Sun is a weekly newspaper of 35,000 circulation and is published every Wednesday.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
The stories were published beginning the end of March, through April, and into May of 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
The articles looked at several aspects of the then just-passed health care reform legislation: public health agencies and who they serve; the insured and the uninsured; the impact to family physicians; reaction from local and federal elected officials; and the impact to pharmacies and prescription drugs and their customers, especially senior citizens. The most significant finding was in interviewing pharmacists and their claims of pharmacy benefit managers being the main reason for the high cost of prescription drugs.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
A lot of research was done through the Internet, finding contacts to interview for stories. Research also was done via the Internet to find out the profits of three main pharmacy benefit manager companies. Public health officials and local doctors also were interviewed.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Public health officials, local physicians, local pharmacists and local and federal elected officials.
6. Results (if any).
The general consensus was that the health care reform legislation would be a work in progress. Many sources, although they readily agreed health care reform was and is needed, were generally disappointed in the way the law was passed, i.e., that elected officials fast-tracked the legislation through congress, passed it, and that many, if not all, never read the bill nor did they know what all was in the bill.
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.
Research as much as possible; be prepared to let the story take you in another direction you might not have thought about; before presenting the story to readers, remember you have to understand it before you can write it in a way they can understand it.