East Idaho News wins investigative journalism award for medical debt series
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COLUMBIA, Missouri — An EastIdahoNews.com series exposing medical debt collection in eastern Idaho has been selected as one of the best investigative reports in the country.
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting, announced its 2019 award winners Monday. This year’s recipients were selected from more than 450 entries across print, television, radio and digital media platforms.
“Patient Pain: The Massive Money in Medical Debt,” written and produced by Nate Eaton, Nate Sunderland and Mike Price, was picked as the overall winner in the broadcast/video division IV category. This included news organizations outside of the top 50 television markets and online-only media with a city, county or metropolitan area focus.
Last April, EastIdahoNews.com posted a series of stories about medical debt collection practices after a Melaleuca employee was sued by Medical Recovery Services (MRS) for an outstanding $294 bill she didn’t know she had. After several hearings, Bryan Smith, an MRS attorney, requested nearly $6,000 in attorney fees.
Hundreds of people shared similar stories on social media about their experience with MRS and other collection agencies. Following the stories, Frank and Belinda VanderSloot announced a $1 million dollar fund to defend Idahoans against aggressive tactics by medical debt collectors. They also worked with legislators to get the Idaho Patient Act signed into law with the purpose of protecting patients.
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“These reporters did an excellent job explaining a very complicated issue and obtained strong results for their community. Their effort to tell the stories of real people was commendable, as was their resolve to thoroughly investigate every aspect of how the company operates and hold the attorney accountable,” IRE judges wrote.
Other IRE winners include The Washington Post, The New York Times, HBO, The Texas Tribune and WBBM-TV in Chicago. Stories proved Russian jets bombed Syrian hospitals, revealed conditions inside Amazon warehouses and uncovered sexual abuse of children.
“This year’s entries were powerful examples of investigations that held institutions and people accountable,” said Jennifer LaFleur, an IRE board member and chair of the IRE Awards contest committee.
The IRE Awards will be presented on August 28 at the 2020 IRE Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
You can find a complete list of the winners and their work here.
This story from @EastIDNews thoroughly investigated the inner workings of how a company operates. #IREAwards pic.twitter.com/76ynhbCgst
— IRE and NICAR (@IRE_NICAR) April 6, 2020