View the Latest: Journalism

Jackie Fortiér, Peggy Girshman fellow, covers health policy nationally from her base in California. She’s the newsroom’s first audio-first fellow, a selection that honors Girshman, who was an NPR alum and longtime champion of audio journalism. Fortiér has helped KFF Health News expand its offerings to “Marketplace,” National Public Radio, and CBS News Radio, and she landed the newsroom’s first audio feature on “The California Report.” She’s a skilled multimedia storyteller able to deliver compelling…

Stephanie Armour, senior health policy correspondent, has reported on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare, covid-19, abortion, and how politics and regulations in Washington, D.C., affect patients, providers, and the health care industry. She has previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, USA Today, The Des Moines Register, and the Daily Tribune in Ames, Iowa. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. Her journalism awards include earning a first-place National Headliner Award…

Amy Maxmen, national public health correspondent, covers efforts to prevent disease and improve well-being outside of the medical system, and the obstacles that stand in the way. Before joining KFF Health News in 2024, she was a senior reporter at Nature covering health inequities, global health, infectious diseases, and genomics. She’s also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, National Geographic, and many other outlets. Maxmen’s work has garnered awards such…

Alex Wayne is executive editor of KFF Health News. He previously worked for Bloomberg News, where he led coverage of the Joe Biden and Donald Trump presidencies and reported on health care policy, including the development of the Affordable Care Act. In 2020, he helped manage and edit articles about the coronavirus’ infiltration of Trump’s White House that won the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency. Earlier in his career,…

Samantha Liss, Midwest correspondent, has covered the business of health care since 2012. Her reporting at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch prompted dialysis provider DaVita to stop steering Medicaid patients into higher-paying private plans. Her work also helped spur a 2018 Missouri law intended to protect patients from surprise medical bills. She is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

Deputy Copy Chief, edits news articles for clarity and consistency. As a member of the copy desk, he also helps define and apply the house editorial style. Previously, he advanced the educational programming of National Geographic Society through project management, content development, and research. He has also reported on local government and culture in New England, written and edited questions for academic competitions, and led student newsrooms at Kenyon College, where he earned a degree…

David Hilzenrath, senior correspondent and a veteran of The Washington Post, joined the staff in 2022. At KFF Health News, he was lead author of coverage that exposed a crisis in the Social Security system, spurred sweeping policy changes, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. The reporting showed how the Social Security Administration was crushing many of the people it was designed to help. The coverage, a collaboration with Cox…

Samantha Young, deputy California editor, directs coverage of health care politics and policy in California. Before that, she was a senior correspondent focused on government accountability and industry influence. Previously, as a reporter for The Associated Press, she covered the California Legislature and the Schwarzenegger administration, statewide political campaigns, and the state’s groundbreaking climate change law. She spent seven years in Washington covering the federal government for newspapers in the Stephens Media Group. She is…