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 "Blue Cross" ...
-
Wright Did Not Account for $119,607
Schreiner analyzed Rep. Thomas Wright's campaign disclosures from 1992 to 2006 and compared it to the reports of donors' contribution. "That analysis revealed that Wright hadn't disclosed $119,607 that donors reported that they had sent him."
Tags: campaign finance; accounting; cross-auditing; money; financial records; donors; North Carolina; Blue Cross/Blue Shield; disclosure
-
Health care influence at the Rhode Island General Assembly
This series of stories raised a number of ethical concerns involving state legislators. The stories detailed how the president of the senate made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling Blue Cross Insurance to CVS pharmacy employees, while as a legislator he used his position to kill pharmacy choice legislation. Other stories showed how another senator worked as a "consultant" for health care concerns and how the national drugstore industry entertained state legislators from around the country at luxury resorts. Following the newspaper's reports, the senate president and the head of Blue Cross resigned, while the state police and the FBI began an investigation.
Tags: politics; health care industry; pharmaceutical industry; drugstores; ethics; corporate influence; lobbying; special interests
-
"Bed Check: HMO Rates Hospitals; Many Don't Like It, But They Get Better"
Burton looks at a study of cardiac units in Ohio hospitals by Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Surprisingly, he says, the study's rankings show a relatively unknown hospital to have the best care for heart surgery patients, while the more famous clinics don't score so well. He traces the fallout from the study's announcements.
Tags: Anthem; Blue Cross; Blue Shield; cardiac; heart; rankings; mortality; nurse; doctor; surgery; surgeon; Ohio State; St. Elizabeth
-
FDA and Drug Safety
A CBS investigative series reports on different aspects of dangerous medicine. Some of the reports reveal that the managed care has gone out of control. "Health insurance giants ... are harming patients by denying crucial medical care, illegally denying and delaying claims, and using unfair and deceptive trade practices." Insurers also "downcode" doctors' claims - that is, change them to services that pay less or nothing at all. Other stories look at the risks posed by drug studies and the lack of enough oversight from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One of the reports tells how a healthy baby died after being enrolled in a study of Propulsid, a heartburn drug that turned out to be dangerous and has been repeatedly rejected by the FDA for pediatric use. The series also examine cases of prescription drugs that should have never been sold, and concludes that FDA has become too close to the pharmaceutical industry. A major finding is that pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. have huge financial incentives to keep dangerous drugs on the market at the cost of patients' deaths and injuries.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; medicine; HMOs; health care; patients; Cigna; Oxford; Connecticare; Aetna; Physician Health Services; Anthem Bule Cross/Blue Shield; Rezulin; Pfeizer; Warner Lambert
-
Crossing the thin blue line
Washington City Paper investigates cases of excessive use of police force on civilians, and exposes cops with credibility problems. The story focuses on Lt. Keith Perry of the D.C. Police, known "as an overly aggressive cop who sometimes tiptoed on the line between a clean arrest and a shitkicking." The reporter reveals an incident, in which Perry has beaten a drug deal suspect in the head with a baton. Two police officers under Perry reported their superior for alleged brutality. He only took sick leave and continued to get his salary after the incident, the City Paper reports. The article includes statistics on excessive force use from 1994 to 1999.
Tags: 6th district; crack; drugs; heroin; cocain; alcohol; arrests; investigation; litigation; attorneys; violence; Civil Complaint Review Board; abuse
-
Arrest my kid
Progressive investigates the failure of the public health-care system to help mentally ill children and their parents. The story reveals that some parents, unable to pay for a psychiatric clinic stay, "deliberately invoke the juvenile justice system in order to get mental health treatment for their kids." The author exemplifies the problem with three cases of mentally ill children who were arrested on the request of their parents. The article also looks at a lawsuit filed against a Minnesota's health insurance company that instructed parents having their children arrested.
Tags: social service workers; juvenile justice; children; parents; psychiatry; psychology; National Alliance for Mentally Ill; eating disorders; chemical dependency; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
-
The Dental Divide
Series examined the struggle poor kids and certain other groups have in getting dental care in Alabama. We found that the state has an overall shortage of dentists, and that fewer than 100 Alabama dentists (out of 1,800) see may poor kids covered by Medicaid."
Tags: dentists; shortage; children; oral health; oral disease; teeth; Oral Health America; Blue Cross; insurance
-
Bell Saving their assets
In an accelerating rush to the marketplace, many of America's largest health care nonprofits are being converted into profit-making organizations. American Prospect reports on this continuing wave. If it continues, billions of dollars in charitable assets are at risk
Tags: Blue Cross; Blue Shield; HMO; Health Maintenance Organizations; Nonprofits; Philanthropy; Wellness Foundation; HealthNet
-
No title (id: 13249)
New Times examines how KC Blue Cross lavishes thousands of dollars on members of the General Assembly's Insurance Committees to save tens of millions. (Feb. 22 - 28, 1996)
Tags: Roth Votes for sale Not-for-profit organization Lobbyists Missouri Ethics Commission 3 pgs.
-
No title (id: 10507)
Common Cause Magazine notes that same kinds of practices the led to the downfall of the saving and loan industry are underming the health insurance industry. Health insurers have been investing in junk bonds and other dubious ventures. The article looks at the policies of insurance companies such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and what measures are being taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Spring 1993.