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Articles by Trudy Lieberman | Email the Author
New light on the emergency room
A RAND study finds that the ER is not such a healthcare-spending villain after all
By Trudy Lieberman May 29, 2013 at 02:51 PM
Yes, I know we don't like "study sez" stories; that is unless they trumpet a new cancer drug or a... More
Medicare Uncovered: Who should pay? Who can pay?
A shout-out to Marketwatch for a thorough report that challenges the “skin-in-the-game” theory
By Trudy Lieberman May 21, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Elizabeth O'Brien's May 15 Marketwatch piece on proposed changes for Medicare is one of the best I have seen since... More
The insanity of hospital pricing
The academics are wrong and the press is right: wildly varying healthcare billing is a very big deal
By Trudy Lieberman May 16, 2013 at 03:08 PM
Last week's release of the wildly varying prices that hospitals charge Medicare may no longer be news du jour, but... More
Untangling Obamacare: What’s behind the rate increases?
To report on rising premiums you need to understand them. A primer for reporters
By Trudy Lieberman May 13, 2013 at 12:38 PM
Rate hikes just keep coming. The latest we've heard about come from Blue Cross Blue Shield in North Carolina, which... More
Planet 401(k): Tom Friedman’s bleak vision
Elites are debating the shape of our future. It’s time for some mainstream reporting to deepen the discussion
By Trudy Lieberman May 3, 2013 at 11:09 AM
It's pretty clear by now that elite media, in their news columns and opinion pages, have had a big hand... More
Untangling Obamacare: Rate shock!?
Understanding the direction of insurance premiums is not easy, let alone explaining it. But…
By Trudy Lieberman May 1, 2013 at 02:28 PM
Covering Obamacare poses big challenges for journalists, from piercing government spin and deciphering GOP rhetoric to unraveling and simplifying... More
The Chained CPI in people terms
A laurel to The New York Times’s Tara Siegel Bernard
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 24, 2013 at 10:55 AM
At last comes a story in a major news outlet that explains in people terms what exactly the Chained... More
The coming retirement-security crisis: let’s get real
A Laurel to Michael Lind for trying to start the conversation
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 23, 2013 at 06:50 AM
Bravo to Michael Lind, writing for Salon, for daring to challenge media conventional wisdom--that the country can no longer... More
Medicare Uncovered: Figuring out the president’s plan
An Associated Press story offers more fog than sunshine
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 16, 2013 at 03:29 PM
You have to give the AP an A for effort, for at least trying to tell its huge audience... More
Chained CPI: A broken link at NPR
For a massive change to Social Security, ‘he-said/she-said’ reporting just doesn’t cut it
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 11, 2013 at 02:58 PM
A piece on NPR's All Things Considered that aired Monday did little to enlighten listeners about a major change... More
Big Pharma’s army of messengers
A campaign to kill a drug discount
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 9, 2013 at 11:18 AM
As we report in a companion piece here on CJR.org--"Medicare uncovered: What's not on the table"--the president's budget proposal,... More
Medicare Uncovered: What’s not on the table
Negotiating the price of drugs would save billions. Why don’t we talk about it?
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 9, 2013 at 11:02 AM
The leaks from the White House and the circulation of pre-budget talking points on Friday made it clear that fixes... More
Covering an Obamacare clawback: better late than never
The Associated Press discovers an overlooked story
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 5, 2013 at 11:00 AM
What Congress giveth, it can also taketh away. And there's no clearer example than a provision in the Affordable Care... More
The insurance industry wins a big one
Lobbying effort on Medicare Advantage, mostly uncovered in the press, pays off in DC
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 3, 2013 at 02:50 PM
The lead of Politico's story on the battle over Medicare Advantage cuts didn't pull any punches: "The insurance industry chalked... More
Obamacare and the business angle: innovative coverage
A tip of the hat to Inc. and The New York Times
By Trudy Lieberman Apr 3, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Inc.'s Adam Bluestein and Julie Weed of The New York Times have come up with an interesting way of covering... More
Medicare Uncovered: the insurers’ latest campaign
The press is AWOL on a PR and lobbying effort—and so is the context
By Trudy Lieberman Mar 29, 2013 at 03:05 PM
Last week Katharine Raley, who heads the Ventura, CA, office of the state's Health Insurance Advocacy and Counseling Program, got... More
The great hospital ratings derby—a second look
A laurel to Kaiser Health News
By Trudy Lieberman Mar 27, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Bravo for Jordan Rau, the author of a piece produced by Kaiser Health News, that at last untangles the... More
Exchange Watch: Navigating the insurance jungle
How to cover your local healthcare exchange: a primer
By Trudy Lieberman Mar 26, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Not surprisingly, the topic of the new Obamacare state insurance exchanges--called Health Insurance Marketplaces by the feds--came up at a... More
Medicare Uncovered: Smoke signals from Fox News Sunday
You might want to watch your wallet: Dems and the GOP hint they are close on cuts
By Trudy Lieberman Mar 21, 2013 at 11:09 AM
There was no mistaking the message that two members of the Senate sent forth Sunday morning. In an interview on... More
Take this fiscal pop quiz
Test your knowledge about federal spending—and federal-spending myths
By Trudy Lieberman Mar 15, 2013 at 11:00 AM
From Henry Aaron, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, comes a pop quiz that's fun to take and tests... More
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.


















