1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Title of the story is "Kids caught in Medicaid pay crossfire." The byline on the story is Parija Kavilanz and is representative of her health care beat as a consumer and business health story.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
The story was published on March 17, 2010, on CNNMoney.com. The story also appeared on CNN.com on March 17, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
This story brought to light a troubling trend of physicians – specifically pediatricians and pediatric specialists – who are either no longer taking new Medicaid patients or even dropping existing Medicaid patients because the felt that the payment from the government program was not adequately covering their business costs. The story illustrated the trend through the real life example of Dr. Jaquelin Gotlieb, an Atlanta-area pediatrician who still accepts Medicaid patients while many of her peers no longer do. Her frustration as a doctor is the difficulty she faces in finding specialists for her young Medicaid patients because many specialists in her area also no longer accept Medicaid. This story is being played out nationally, with many young children being caught in the reimbursement crossfire between doctors and the government-run health care programs.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Data on Medicaid payment rates from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. American Academy of Pediatrics' January (2010) survey of 290 physicians in Georgia about changes they would make to their practice and patient admissions if the state cut their Medicaid reimbursement rates.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Dr. Jaquelin Gotlieb, a pediatrician based in the Atlanta area. Mary Kahn, spokeswoman for the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Dr. Avril Beckford, president of the Georgia chapter of the (AAP)
6. Results (if any).
The story received hundreds if responses from consumers as well as the medical community. Many of those responses are archived on CNNMoney.com, below the story. The story was also picked up by leading health care news websites such as Kaiser Health News.
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.
When writing about a health care trend, finding a real-life example to illustrate the issues really helps to bring the story alive and make it more relatable to a broader audience.