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Kaiser Health News

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Kaiser Health News is a national newsroom that produces journalism about health issues and was launched in 2009. 1 It is part of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, also referred to as the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Kaiser Health News formed journalism partnerships with the left-of-center fact-checker PolitiFact2 and also the left-leaning Guardian. 3

The Kaiser Family Foundation added former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to its board in 2016. 4 Sebelius served under President Barack Obama and oversaw the implementation of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. 5

People and entities associated with The Kaiser Family Foundation made $163,324 in political donations in federal elections from 1992 to 2020, of which $4,310 went to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org. 6

Background

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that spent $16 million on its news division in 2019. 7 Kaiser Health News was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist in the investigative reporting category for a series of stories about how the University of Virginia Health System was suing low-income patients, confiscating paychecks and claiming houses. 8

Left-leaning Reporting Partnerships

Poynter/PolitiFact

Kaiser Health News announced in 2019 that it was partnering with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies’ left-of-center fact-checker PolitiFact to review the accuracy of claims made in health care coverage. 9 The partnership was for two years and PolitiFact stated its staffers would train and work with the Kaiser Health News staff and use the PolitiFact methodology for fact-checking. 10

The partnership is funded in part by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies as well as Google and Facebook. 11

The Florida Times-Union reported that PolitiFact “has been assailed as a partisan member of the liberal media.” 12

Smart Politics, a political website maintained by Eric Ostermeier, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, found that PolitiFact rated Republican statements as false at three times the rate of Democrats. 13

Smart Politics reviewed more than 500 stories from PolitiFact from January 2010 to January 2011. 14 The analysis found PolitiFact rated 98 statements as false or pants-on-fire in that 13-month period, with 74 assigned to Republicans and 22 to Democrats. 15

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University produced a 2013 study that found PolitiFact rated Republican statements as false three times as often as those made by Democrats during President Obama’s second term. 16

The Guardian

Kaiser Health News also joined with the left-leaning Guardian for a project that tracked the health-care workers in the U.S. who died from COVID-19. 17

The Guardian released classified information given to it in 2013 by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that allegedly gave details on surveillance operations by the NSA. 18

The Guardian published a column in 2004 that appeared to call for the assassination of U.S. President George W. Bush. The newspaper later retracted the column. 19

Key People

Kaiser Health News operates under the oversight of the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation’s Board of Directors. Kaiser Health News also has a National Advisory Commission.

Kaiser Family Foundation Board

Drew Altman serves as president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation as well as founding publisher of Health Care News. Altman was commissioner of the Department of Human Services for the state of New Jersey under Republican Governor Tom Kean. 20

The board of trustees includes former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who served under President Obama. Sebelius was elected to the board in 2016. 21 Sebelius, who had advocated for Obamacare,22 resigned in 2014 after what the New York Times called the disastrous roll out of HealthCare.gov, the federal health exchange website. 23 NPR stated the launching of HealthCare.gov “wasn’t just an embarrassment to the administration but a threat to President Obama’s legacy.” 24

The board also includes James Canales, president of the left-of-center Barr Foundation, and James Doyle, the former Democratic governor of Wisconsin. Olympia Snowe, a centrist former Republican U.S. senator from Maine, is also on the board. Snowe also serves on the board of the center-left think tank Bipartisan Policy Center. 25

Kevin Merida, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times and former managing editor of the Washington Post, serves on The Kaiser Family Foundation Board of Directors and is also an emeritus advisor on the Health Care News’ National Advisory Committee. 26

Kaiser Health News National Advisory Committee

Leonard Downie, Jr. is chairman of the National Advisory Committee and served as the executive editor of the Washington Post from 1991 to 2008. 27

Also serving on the advisory committee is Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, whose funders include the left-of-center Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the center-left Democracy Fund, the left-leaning John S. And James L. Knight Foundation. 28

Karen Dunlap, president of the Poynter Institute, also serves on the advisory board29 along with Alberto Ibarguen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. 30

Kaiser Health News Employees

Elisabeth Rosenthal is the editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News and spent 22 years as a correspondent for the New York Times. David Rousseau is the publisher of Kaiser Health News and also serves as the chair of the Media Impact Funders Board. 31 The executive director of Media Impact Funders Board is Vincent Stehle, who previously served as program director for the left-of-center Surdna Foundation.32

Damon Darlin is executive editor at Kaiser Health News. He worked as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal and also was a columnist and editor at the New York Times. 33

Political Donations

From 1992 to 2020, people and entities associated with The Kaiser Family Foundation made $163,324 in political donations, of which 2.6% ($4,310) went to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org. 34

Funding

Kaiser Health News is funded via the Kaiser Family Foundation’s general operating budget and is primarily supported from investment returns from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s endowment. 35

Kaiser Health News accepts funding from organizations to support its journalism. Some of the funders in 2020 include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. 36

References

  1. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  2. Josie Hollingsworth. Politifact. April 2, 2019. “PolitiFact Announces Health News Fact-Checking Partnership With Kaiser Health News”; Accessed 5/10/2021. https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/apr/02/politifact-announces-brand-new-health-news-fact-ch/
  3. Lost On The Frontline. Accessed 5/11/2021. https://khn.org/news/lost-on-the-frontline-health-care-worker-death-toll-covid19-coronavirus/
  4. Kaiser Family Foundation press release. July 13, 2016. “Former Secretary Kathleen Sebelius And Former Senator Olympia Snowe Elected To KFF Board Of Trustees”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://www.kff.org/other/press-release/former-secretary-kathleen-sebelius-and-former-senator-olympia-snowe-elected-to-kff-board-of-trustees/
  5. Kathleen Sebelius. White House blog. Oct. 24, 2013. “How The Affordable Care Act Improves The Lives Of American Women”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/10/24/how-affordable-care-act-improves-lives-american-women
  6. Center for Responsive Politics. “Kaiser Family Foundation”; Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs//totals?id=D000039180&cycle=A
  7. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Form 990 2019. Guidestar. Part III, 4b.  Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/94-6064808
  8. The Pulitzer Prizes news site. “Finalist: Jay Hancock And Elizabeth Lucas Of Kaiser Health News”; 5/12/2021. https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/jay-hancock-and-elizabeth-lucas-kaiser-health-news
  9. Josie Hollingsworth. Politifact. April 2, 2019. “PolitiFact Announces Health News Fact-Checking Partnership With Kaiser Health News”; Accessed 5/10/2021. https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/apr/02/politifact-announces-brand-new-health-news-fact-ch/
  10. Josie Hollingsworth. Politifact. April 2, 2019. “PolitiFact Announces Health News Fact-Checking Partnership With Kaiser Health News”; Accessed 5/10/2021. https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/apr/02/politifact-announces-brand-new-health-news-fact-ch/
  11. Kaiser Health News About Us page. Accessed 5/11/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  12. Carole Fader. The Florida Times-Union. Sept. 28, 2012. “Fact Check: So Who’s Checking The Fact-Finders? We Are”; https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20120928/NEWS/801246493
  13. Eric Ostermeier. Feb. 10, 2011. “Selection Bias? PolitiFact Rates Republican Statements As False 3 Times The Rate Of Democrats”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2011/02/10/selection-bias-politifact-rate/
  14. Eric Ostermeier. Feb. 10, 2011. “Selection Bias? PolitiFact Rates Republican Statements As False 3 Times The Rate Of Democrats”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2011/02/10/selection-bias-politifact-rate/
  15. Eric Ostermeier. Feb. 10, 2011. “Selection Bias? PolitiFact Rates Republican Statements As False 3 Times The Rate Of Democrats”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2011/02/10/selection-bias-politifact-rate/
  16. The Center for Media and Public Affairs. George Mason University. May 28, 2013. “Study: Media Fact-Checker Says Republicans Lie More”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://cmpa.gmu.edu/study-media-fact-checker-says-republicans-lie-more/
  17. Lost On The Frontline. Accessed 5/11/2021. https://khn.org/news/lost-on-the-frontline-health-care-worker-death-toll-covid19-coronavirus/
  18. Greenwald, Glenn, Ewen MacAskill, and Laura Poitras. 2013. “Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower Behind The NSA Surveillance Revelations”. The Guardian. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance.
  19. The Associated Press. Oct. 25, 2004. “UK Paper Apologizes For Assassination Remark”; Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6329842
  20. Kaiser Family Foundation website. Accessed 5/11/2021. https://www.kff.org/person/drew-altman/
  21. Kaiser Family Foundation press release. July 13, 2016. “Former Secretary Kathleen Sebelius And Former Senator Olympia Snowe Elected To KFF Board Of Trustees”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://www.kff.org/other/press-release/former-secretary-kathleen-sebelius-and-former-senator-olympia-snowe-elected-to-kff-board-of-trustees/
  22. Kathleen Sebelius. White House blog. Oct. 24, 2013. “How The Affordable Care Act Improves The Lives Of American Women”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/10/24/how-affordable-care-act-improves-lives-american-women
  23. Michael D. Shear. New York Times. April 10, 2014. “Sebelius Resigns After Troubles Over Health Site”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/us/politics/sebelius-resigning-as-health-secretary.html
  24. Frank James. NPR. Oct. 21, 2013. “5 Questions Kathleen Sebelius Must Answer”; Accessed 5/11/2021. https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/10/21/239269074/5-questions-kathleen-sebelius-must-answer
  25. Kaiser Family Foundation website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.kff.org/board-of-trustees/
  26. Kaiser Family Foundation website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.kff.org/board-of-trustees/
  27. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  28. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  29. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  30. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  31. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  32. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  33. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  34. Center for Responsive Politics. “Kaiser Family Foundation”; Accessed 5/12/2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs//totals?id=D000039180&cycle=A
  35. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us/
  36. Kaiser Health News website. Accessed 5/12/2021. https://khn.org/about-us
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