Sarah Kliff’s Story Ideas for Covering Health Reform in Your State

Journalist Sarah Kliff, who's about to embark on a new health policy blogging job at the Washington Post, knows a thing or twenty about covering health reform. In her former position at Politico, she covered health reform and health policy, covering the deep-in details most reporters shy away from.

Kliff, recipient of a Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism grant, this week shared her story ideas for reporting on health reform in your state. If you've been covering similar stories, share your work and your thoughts in the comments below.

Health Exchanges

•  Health Exchanges 101: what is a health insurance exchange and how many residents of your state is it expected to insure?

•  Where is your state on planning an exchange? What grant money has been received and how is it being used? Is there pushback from political interests opposed to health exchanges?

•  How are various interests – insurers, consumer advocates, hospital groups – shaping your state's exchange?

Insurance Reform

•  Look into whether insurance companies in your state are lobbying for a waiver – and, if not, what is the business impact of the new regulation?

•  Explore the consumer angle – will consumers in your state receive an insurance premium rebate, or are they experiencing lower premiums?

•  On rate review, what is your state doing to beef up its ability to review insurers' rate increases? In states that were deemed to have "insufficient" review, how do they expect the new federal review to play out?

Medicaid

•  What will your state's Medicaid budget look like after this legislative session? Were cuts made? Or did the budget grow?

•  How is your state preparing for the 2014 Medicaid expansion called for in health reform legislation?

•  In states with Republican governors, what push back is happening against the new reform requirements?

More Reporting Resources:

The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight

State Refor(u)m, a project of the National Academy of State Health Policy

State Legislative Tracking Database on Health Reform, a project of the National Conference of State Legislatures

Photo credit: NESRI via Flickr