Resource Center

Stories

The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast.

These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need.

Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:



Search results for "insurance coverage" ...

  • Questionable Coverage

    “Questionable Coverage” was a hidden camera investigative report about systematic health insurance scams affecting victims in nearly every state. As a direct result of our reporting, two companies ceased operations, a third has been sanctioned, and insurance regulators in Georgia and New York have launched their own investigations into the fraud.

    Tags: health insurance; scams; fraud; hidden cameras

    By Dan Slepian, Colin Dow, Chris Hansen

    NBC News

    2012

  • Confusion and Consequences: Changing Michigan's Auto Insurance

    The supporters of legislation to change Michigan's no fault Personal Injury Protection implied the cause of Michigan's relatively high auto insurance rates was in large part due to generous coverage of catastrophic injuries.

    Tags: Personal Injury Protection

    By Lester Graham

    Michigan Radio

    2012

  • Critical Condition

    The story is a revealing look at three American famliesa s they struggledwith their health insurers over coverage of expensive, but potentially life-saving treatment.

    Tags: health care; health insurers; insurance

    By 01/24/2010

    NBC News Dateline

    2010

  • Deception of the Desperate

    The WSMV investigation "exposed how a Nashville-based company was deceiving people all across the country who were desperate for insurance. Many of these customers had serious illnesses, like AIDS and cancer, and could not get full coverage insurance. They found the company was telling consumers they were getting full coverage insurance, when in fact they were buying basic discount cards that barely paid any of their expenses. "

    Tags: insurance; fraud; consumer safety; medical insurance; health insurance

    By Jeremy Finley

    WSMV-TV (Nashville, Tenn.)

    2010

  • "Insurer Targeted HIV Patients to Drop Coverage"

    In this four-month investigation, reporter Murray Waas reveals that the prominent insurance company WellPoint was targeting "policyholders recently diagnosed with breast cancer for the wrongful and sometimes illegal termination of their health insurance." Waas interviews several women whose insurance policies were terminated based on "flimsy or questionable evidence." Similarly, the insurance company Fortis was found to be targeting recently diagnosed HIV patients.

    Tags: cancer; HIV; breast cancer; Fortis; WellPoint; insurance; United Health Care; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Obama

    By Murray Waas; Lewis Krauskopf; Jim Impoco; Claudia Parsons; Doina Chiacu

    Reuters

    2010

  • Disposable Army

    In today's American war zones, there are more civilian contractors on the ground than combat troops. However, when a contractor is injured or killed, they must face an insurance system that delivers sub-standard care. Failure to enforce companies to purchase mandated worker's compensation insurance for employees and a lack of awareness among hires has resulted in severs gaps of coverage for individuals working in overseas war zones.

    Tags: insurance; workers; war zones; overseas; contractors; civilian; private; profits; employees; troops; care; health; coverage;

    By T. Christian Miller; Doug Smith; Francine Orr; Protap Chatterjee; Auni Patel;

    ProPublica

    2009

  • "Disabled and Denied"

    Reporter Evan George's investigation found that insurance companies repeatedly deny legitimate claims and often cut off coverage from disabled middle-class workers. There is no real downside for the insurance companies to deny claims any many disabled workers give up without a fight.

    Tags: MetLife; insurance; disability; Unum; The Hartford

    By Evan George

    Los Angeles Daily Journal

    2009

  • Insurance Denied

    "The article explores how health insurance companies deny coverage- or, in some cases, refuse to pay claims after initially approving coverage- for people believed to have pre-existing medical conditions."

    Tags: medical issues; loan; coverage;

    By Jonathan Cohn; Sara Austin

    Self (New York, NY)

    2008

  • The Evidence Gap

    The nations' medical bill last year exceeded $2.7 trillin -- nearly as much as the projected total cost of the Iraq war. If it were medical money well spend, there might be few cries to "reform" the American health care system. But by some estimates, one-third or more of the medical care received by patients in this country may be virtually worthless. The nation is wasting hundreds of billions of dollars each year on superfluous treatments -- money that otherwise could by spent, for example , on providing health insurance for every child, woman and man int his country who currently have no coverage. A team of science and business reporters from The New York Times set out to explain how and why the United States is spending so much on health care with so relatively little to show for the money, They discovered a gaping chasm between scientific evidence and the practice of medicine. In an in-depth series of articles, told through real doctors and patients, and based on information they dug up that was frequently unflattering to medical providers, companies and regulators, the Times team documented many disturbing instances of "The Evidence Gap."

    Tags: health care; CT angiograms; Avastin; cancer treatment; reckless spending; Food and Drug Administration; mammograms

    By Alex Berenson; Barry Meier; Gina Kolotz; Elizabeth Rosenthal; Andrew Pollack; Gardiner Harris; Reed Abelson

    New York Times

    2008

  • America's Health Care Crisis

    "America's health-care system is in a crisis with many people worried that medical costs will bankrupt them, a Consumer Reports series found...The series found that consumers who had to buy insurance on their own had higher costs and more limited coverage, according to our nationally representative survey. Often they found they could not get coverage at all, unless it excluded the very illness for which they needed treatment."

    Tags: Philip Meyer Contest; health care; health care cost; insurance; medicine; illness; survey;

    By Nancy Metcalf; Ronni Sandroff

    Consumer Reports

    2008