1/23/14

ObamaCare: reporters become the story

After months of hype and hysteria, insurance policies purchased under the Affordable Care Act went into effect on New Year’s Day, and journalists have largely pivoted from writing about the problems of HealthCare.gov to how the law is actually working for consumers.
Some journalists don’t have to look very far. Charles Ornstein writes: "Back in December, I wrote about Missouri public radio reporter Harum Helmy, who earned too much for her state’s Medicaid program and too little to qualify for a subsidy that would have offset the cost of an insurance policy on Healthcare.gov. “I know — an uninsured health reporter,” she wrote to me. “The joke’s not lost on me.”  Since then, reporters across the country have been telling their stories—and they seem to square with the broader experiences of the public.  [Source]        [BJS]