Reuters investigative report makes waves
03.17.2010
Reuters produced what ProPublica called “a stunning report” about Fortis, a health insurance company now called Assurant Health, that targeted policyholders with HIV to drop their coverage. The March 17th report used previously undisclosed court documents to describe the case of Jerome Mitchell, who was diagnosed with the disease at 17 and had his insurance canceled. He sued and won $10 million and the judge found the company’s conduct reprehensible.
The Reuters report got wide visibility. It was the top item on the Huffington Post, drawing thousands of comments and it was most popular on Reuters.com with 89,000 page views. Paul Krugman of the NYT wrote about it in his column: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/opinion/19krugman.html. The Columbia Journalism Review called it an “eye-opening investigation” and said “It’s a great testament to Waas and Reuters that they dug this up” http://www.cjr.org/theaudit/reutersisexcellentin_diggin.php
The story was perfectly timed as Democrats scramble to seal a final vote on healthcare reform by the end of the week.
