“Follow the Money: Fraud and the Affordable Care Act” is a workshop designed to teach participants where to look for fraud connected to the massive new government program, how to uncover it, and how to present the findings in a compelling and understandable way.
Obamacare is destined to be THE major story of 2014 and one of the major issues of the mid-term elections. With trillions of taxpayer dollars at stake, it’s imperative for journalists to approach this topic with a watchdog mentality. Understanding where fraud might occur and how to uncover it within a very complex program requires specialized training. Reporters need to understand how insurance companies can manipulate the system for their own benefit, how individuals can scam the system, the limitations of government oversight, which documents will be crucial to investigating fraud in the program, how to analyze documents, and much more.
The program is sponsored by The New England Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news site dedicated to watchdog journalism. It will feature the following faculty members:
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David Donald is data editor at the Center for Public Integrity.
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Byron Harris has been a news reporter for more than four decades, primarily with WFAA-Dallas.
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Al Tompkins is the Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcasting and online.
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Fred Schulte is a senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity.
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Louis Saccoccio is CEO of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association.
It will be held at Boston University.
The cost of the program is generously covered by a grant from The McCormick Foundation. Hotels, airfare, meals and tuition will be covered by the grant. Incidentals and spending money are not covered.
The application is only open to journalists reporting within the United States. Click here to apply by April 15.
To participate in this training you’ll need to secure an agreement from your editor that he/she will meet with you after the workshop to discuss a plan for coverage of fraud associated with the Affordable Care Act.