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 "death benefits" ...
-
Profiting from Fallen Soldiers
Bloomberg finds that more than 130 life insurance companies have been profiting from the death benefits owed to family service members and government workers.
Tags: soldiers; death benefits; life insurance; Prudential; Met Life
-
Profiting From Fallen Soldiers
In this series, reporter David Evans exposed how "more than 130 life insurance companies" devised a system that allowed them to profit from death benefits that were "owed to families of service members, government workers and millions of other Americans." MetLife and Prudential led the scheme. Evans revealed that the companies withheld $28 billion owed to the families of deceased soldiers. The story prompted "almost immediate changes in U.S. government policies."
Tags: life insurance; MetLife; Prudential; Robert Gates; Veterans; taxpayer; American Legion; military
-
The Social Security backlog
A four-part, multi-article series examined the backlog of social security cases, particularly in the Portland, Ore. area. When presented with the findings, Social Security top official Commissioner Michael J. Astrue acknowledged the backlog of disability claims has gone "seriously in the wrong direction." The reporters found that most people who fight for Social Security benefits after being initially denied with their cases, but the average wait for a disability hearing was 512 days -- 669 days in the Portland office. The series highlighted that the system was particularly hard on veterans as well. Also, using internal Social Security figures, the reporters determined that the agency would pay about $9 billion in benefits to people who no longer deserved them. They later found that the real cost for the failure to review disability cases was between $10 and $11 billion.
Tags: social security; veterans' care; Department of Veteran's Affairs; disability hearings; medical benefits; Freedom of Information Act
-
Authenticating Andy
After Andy Warhol's death, his will established a foundation in his name. Part of the duty of this foundation is to authenticate pieces of his work and discredit phonies. As this article uncovers, in the past decade, many works have been dismissed as fake without good reason. This often slights private owners while benefitting the foundation itself.
Tags: art; Andy Warhol; portrait; picture; painting; artwork; authentication board; estate; curator
-
State of Denial
This series by WFAA-TV in Dallas "revealed a Texas workers' compensation system in crisis," and found "state regulators often failed to enforce labor laws and penalize those insurance companies that unjustly deny benefits and medical treatment to injured workers." The investigation found "state regulators and insurance carriers developed a shockingly cozy relationship." Among other things, regulators slashed reimbursements to doctors up to 50 percent, and escalated the number of denials they handed down to workers, resulting in thousands of injured workers having to "wait six months or more before they're able to gain an initial hearing to dispute the denial of benefits and medical care." The investigation also found a number of underhanded techniques being employed, such as pressure being put on doctors participating in the "peer review" process of claims -- where those who approved medical care were not asked back, while doctors who denied claims were.
Tags: worker's comp; worker's compensation; labor; safety; workplace; job; employment; doctors; health care; benefits; injury; death; treatment; government; Texas
-
Day of the Dead: The declining autopsy rate is hurting medical science
This article discusses the declining rate of autopsies being performed nationwide, and their implications for medical science. "Doctors are reluctant to request them, scared to discover a misdiagnosis that could lead to an expensive malpractice suit. Health maintenance organizations and government agencies are reluctant to pay for them. And there is a shortage of doctors trained to perform them." The article examines the various benefits autopsies offer the medical community -- from measuring the effects of new drugs to understanding various diseases and other health problems, and the possible benefits to families who want to determine just how their loved one died, and from what. The growth of one Los Angeles-based discount autopsy business, 1-800-AUTOPSY, is also discussed.
Tags: autopsy; medical examiner; coroner; HMO; health insurance; science; medical science; death; deceased; organs; research; pathologist; discount business
-
Death Benefits: How Employers Profit by Buying Life Insurance on Workers
A year-long investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed that companies profited from the deaths of their employees in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "Employers have been buying life insurance on the lives of their workers -- at all levels -- with the company as the beneficiary --and, contrary to the industry's claim, many companies were still buying policies on thousands of employees at a time. The policies act like giant tax shelters, and the insurance earnings boost company income. As workers die, the death benefits bring tax-free cash to corporate treasuries. Rank-and-file employees usually have no idea that they are covered by such policies, and though managerial level employees may be aware of the coverage, they do not realize the size (of) the policies taken out on their lives. Employers often receive half a million dollars or more at their deaths, and the policies remain in force until they die -- even years after they change jobs or retire."
Tags: life insurance; terrorist attacks; September 11; employers; death; profit; tax-free; treasuries; beneficiary
-
Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald; Deconstructing Lutnick
ABC reports on the grief and anguish of Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a bond trading company that lost more employees than any other firm in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Lutnick's brother and best friend died in the collapse of the north tower. The interview with the CEO is "an emotional, eyewitness account ... [that] ... personalized the tragedy for millions of Americans." The first segment examines Lutnick's determination to rebuild his firm and to help the families of the 700 deceased employees. The second story takes "a critical look" at whether the CEO has been keeping his promises.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; stocks and bonds; Wall Street; September 11; finance; deaths; benefits; paychecks
-
The Widower's Tale
The New Yorker investigates the death of Tracy Thomas, a six months pregnant woman, in a car crash in New Jersey in 1997. The report depicts her and her husband as belonging to "the first generation of middle-class African-American people...." The story reveals that one month before she died, her husband "had increased the death benefit of her life-insurance policy." The reporter uncovers a belated doctors' conclusion: "Mrs. Thomas died of compression of the neck by the hands of another." The investigation describes how the widower has tried to prove that his wife's death is related to air-bag injuries, and reports on his lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company..
Tags: murder; strangulation; Cape May Court House; police; forensic doctors
-
The Body Parts of Business
Tribune reporters found tissue donations agencies exploiting people after the death of a loved one and their "increasing reliance on the tissue trade to finance luxurious offices, cars, benefits, and salary packages that stretch well into the six figures." The Tribune also found the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed only minimal rules to safeguard the use of tissue and has failed to adopt more stringent regulations.." FDA regulators admitted to the Tribune they were "ill-equipped" and often unable to oversee the increasing international tissue industry. This series prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a report was issued demanding more information regarding what the tissue is being used for be available so donor families have all the facts. In addition, the American Association of Tissue Banks examined the practice of its members and the info that donor families received. "The association also adopted guidelines for informing donor families whether tissue will be forwarded to for-profit medical or tissue processing companies."
Tags: Food and Drug Administration; organ donation; tissue banking industry