List date(s) this work was published or aired.
March 13, 2011, “Stashes of cash put state health insurers on spot” June 6, 2011 “Treatment for high-cost patients now is wise Rx” July 21, 2011 “HCA pact sows doubt” Dec. 1, 2011 “Do you love me?” (No response.) “I know you do. And I love you, too.”
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Michael Booth’s beat reporting demonstrates a mastery of story selection, research, reporting and writing across all fields, from dense policy to consumer needs to the traumas and triumphs of everyday patients. His research into the excessive surpluses of nonprofit health insurers exposed to consumer advocates how much cash companies were hoarding that could be used for public good. His wide ranging piece on the high cost of chronic patients gave Denver readers and policy makers a new perspective on where to focus Health Policy, while telling the challenging story of a high-needs patient. Booth led the questioning of Colorado’s biggest financial swap of the year, seeking unpublished documents on a $1.45 billion deal between the largest health foundation and the largest hospital chain and forcing public hearings; under community pressure, the state attorney general crafted major new consumer protections into his approval. Finally, Booth’s dogged and wide-ranging explanatory reporting on the largest food-borne illness outbreak in nearly 100 years culminated in this heartbreaking piece about one victim’s family.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
State FOIA requests led to the exposure of anti-consumer details in the hospital/foundation deal; careful reviews of state health insurance commissioner reports, informed by multiple interviews with rating analysts. The open records requests in the foundation/hospital deal led directly to increased public scrutiny and the attorney general’s strengthening of consumer protections before approving the deal.
Explain types of human sources used.
Seeking out of chronic, high-cost patients willing to tell their often-embarrassing personal stories to the public; dozens of interviews with government officials, health insurance company executives, doctors, nurses, listeria outbreak investigators and health departments; extensive interviews with plaintiffs’ lawyers to find victims of listeria outbreak willing to explain their story to the public; seeking first-time approval from regional quality assurance councils analyzing federal Medicare spending to share their geographic findings with a newspaper; sitting in hospital rooms with scared patients and desperate families until they are comfortable enough to tell their stories openly.
Results:
Our coverage of the listeria cantaloupe outbreak resulted in quicker identification of the vectors; apparent criminal reviews by the US Attorney; public policy reconsideration of the role of third party auditors in the food system; more victims seeking legal reparations; widespread consumer education and a mini-revolution in university food safety labs on how to protect the public. The ongoing questions raised about the HCA hospital/foundation bargain forced a thorough attorney general review and strengthening of consumer protections in the final approval.
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.
We continue to follow the listeria cantaloupe outbreak with dozens of stories and will lead the way in 2012 as Colorado tries to put its cantaloupe industry back on track while protecting public health. The hospital/foundation bargain included multiple followup stories and led to stories about other hospital foundation deals that had escaped public scrutiny and will now be reviewed by the state attorney general. The high cost of chronic care patients will be an ongoing theme in multiple followup stories in coming years.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When a news story breaks, ask early and often for public records; even the denials prove rich in reporting. Ask yourself early if any public agency or state law covers the areas you are now writing about; little-known provisions of hospital sale laws led to open records finds and great stories on how to protect the public when big hospitals merge. In food safety investigations, get to know private attorneys early and well; they have financial incentive to know as much as possible about the subject and can often explain things more clearly than even the government regulators paid to watch the programs.