The Association of Health Care Journalists singled out the Ohio Valley ReSource for “some fine multimedia work on rural health and Affordable Care Act” changes. The ReSource’s recent series on what changes to the ACA might mean for the Ohio Valley region provided “a nice mix of narrative and policy,” according to AHJC’s Joanne Kenen (who is also health editor at Politico).

Kenen noted that the region is particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis and at high risk for outbreaks of HIV infection and other diseases associated with needle drug use. “Expanded health care coverage under the ACA is seen as critical in combating both,” she wrote.

The AHCJ asked ReSource reporter Mary Meehan to write a “How I Did It” essay explaining how the ReSource organized and reported the series, from expert briefings, to story brainstorming and finally a fruitful collaboration among team members and freelance contributors.   

Meehan explained how this process added some analytical heft and timeliness to go along with the stories that reporters “were seeing on the ground in their communities.”

Read more from the AHCJ, Mary Meehan’s essay, and the original series, “After Obamacare,” which ran in February and March.

The ReSource will add more to this series in the coming months as debate on the Affordable Care Act continues in Congress.