DC Correspondent

Location: Washington, D.C. (Remote hybrid)
Status: Full-Time
Program Area: Kaiser Health News

About the Job:

KFF, the non-profit health policy analysis, polling and journalism organization, is seeking a Washington-based reporter to join the staff of Kaiser Health News (KHN), the national newsroom producing and distributing in-depth journalism about health issues across the country. KHN has a fast-growing, vibrant, and ambitious staff based in Washington, D.C., with bureaus in California and across the South, Midwest, Mountain states and rural America.

We’re looking for an aggressive, experienced creative reporter to follow policy developments related to health care as they play out in Congress, the Supreme Court, and the DC-based agencies, particularly HHS and CMS. To be clear the task is NOT primarily daily reporting on day-to-day developments. It’s to find and write edgy stories – analysis, features and, at times, investigative stories. We will never say ‘no” to a good scoop, but the goal is to reveal the meaning for the average reader of sometimes arcane and unnoticed government actions, and to explain/analyze how those actions might affect their health care.

Experience in covering policy and politics and a familiarity with covering the halls of Congress and the Agencies is highly preferred, but equally important is a dogged willingness to confront and demand answers from powerful politicians and policy makers. Knowledge of health care is also preferred (but not essential) as is a background in written or digital journalism. KHN produces stories in all media — written, audio, broadcast, and social media — but the word is our basic currency. Our stories appear on KHN.org, but they are distributed to our hundreds of national, regional, and local media partners for free. Our work appears regularly in a range of media outlets from the New York Times, Washington Post and the LA Times (newspaper), to NPR, Reveal and This American Life (audio), to PBS and CBS (broadcast). Our work appears in popular new media outlets like The Daily Beast and Insider, but also important regional and local outlets like The Denver Post, Tampa Bay Times and High Country News. One story (and your byline) can appear in dozens of them.

If you want to be part of an ambitious, prize-winning, and fast-growing newsroom, this is the job for you.

We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications, and we have enviable health insurance and retirement benefits.

This full-time position will be based in KHN’s headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. located near Metro Center.  KFF is currently working a hybrid schedule and requires all staff to work in the office a minimum of 2 days a week, with a longer-term hybrid policy of 3 days a week. Relocation assistance is available.

More About KHN and KFF:

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. With a staff of more than 60 reporters, editors, web producers, and photographers/videographers in California, D.C., Missouri, Colorado, and Montana, plus dozens more freelance columnists, animators, web developers, photographers, and videographers around the nation. KHN is committed to in-depth reporting on health policy news. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. KFF serves as a nonpartisan source of facts, information, and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the public. It has no connection with Kaiser Permanente.

KHN provides this coverage on kffhealthnews.org as well as in partnership with other news organizations, including NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, NBC and a host of other media outlets. KHN has won numerous journalism awards for its coverage. All material is provided free of charge. In addition to publishing in-depth articles on new developments in the health care system and on national and local health care initiatives and debates, KHN also produces daily briefings summarizing news coverage of health policy. For more than a decade, these reports have provided readers with daily updates on how the media are covering U.S. health care policy.

How to Apply

If this opportunity interests you, and you have the requisite experience and qualifications, please email your resume, clips or links to clips and a brief cover letter explaining how your background matches the job requirements to jobs@kff.org. Please submit these documents as separate attachments, labeled as “Last Name_First Name_Document Title”, and include “DC Correspondent” in the subject line of your email.

KFF has an efficient applicant review process and will contact candidates who have applied for this position and whose qualifications most closely fit the criteria for the job. No phone inquiries, please.

KFF requires all employees to provide proof that they are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

It is the policy of KFF to actively promote a diverse and inclusive workplace in every respect, and to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees in every phase of employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, political affiliation, arrest or conviction records, or other categories protected under the law.