During the lead-up to open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act in Nevada, I was asked to write an article that explains the program to our readers. Simply writing an FAQ-style story, however, wouldn’t connect to readers. I felt the story needed an extra dose of reality in order to make people care and pay attention to this issue outside of the political football that surrounded it. With that in mind, I decided to give readers an in-depth and personal picture of what it’s like to live without insurance through the eyes of folks in the community. I made an effort to search for sources from all walks of life who may be impacted by the new law. In doing so, I felt it became possible for the story to go beyond just the facts by adding much needed context to why people should care about the debate surrounding this law.
