Hi Reader,

ProPublica has been investigating the myriad ways health insurance companies deny tens of millions of claims every year. Over a year ago, we published a callout asking readers who worked in the industry to become sources and help our journalists navigate an opaque and complex system. As of today, we have published more than a dozen stories and counting.

In this series, our reporters have:

Exposed how health insurers have been breaking the law for years. States have passed hundreds of laws protecting people from wrongful insurance denials. Yet from emergency services to fertility preservation, insurers are still denying claims.

Built a free tool to help patients access their own claim files. Have you ever had your claim denied? Federal regulations require most health insurance plans to give people an opportunity to review documents related to their claim for free. But, with the help of our readers, we found a number of major insurers that were not following the law. Several changed or updated their policies after we reached out. So we made a free tool to help you obtain information you have a right to see about yourself.

Tracked the impact of our work. Spurred by our story about an insurer that denied coverage of the only therapy that could have saved the life of a 50-year-old father of two, a Michigan lawmaker introduced a bill this month requiring health plans in the state to cover cutting-edge cancer treatments.

Our journalists are able to produce these complicated deep dives into a critical aspect of this country’s health insurance system thanks to our supporters. Our journalists have the freedom to pursue these tough topics and the resources to dig in as deeply as necessary because we are powered by folks like you, who read our work and believe in our mission.

Today, I’m asking you to make a donation of any amount and support this important work. We’ve got more stories to do in this series, not to mention the dozens of other investigations in the works right now. If you’re in a position to do so, I’d be so grateful if you joined us today.

Thanks so much,
Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican