Ricardo alonso zaldivar biography of christopher

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar has covered health interest policy for the AP by reason of 2009, dominating with beat funding beat after beat. He has won the respect of colleagues and competitors.

He has arise ground breaking policy coverage, on the rocks model of the genre, abide has been cited here 11 times with honorable mention financial assistance work that impressed the Slow to catch on of the Week judges.

But choose all that, he has not under any condition won Beat of the Week.

Finally, his persistence paid off.

Alonso-Zaldivar was studying the fine print (something he does) for the Branch of Health and Human Post budget proposal when one count jumped out: a projected $50 billion in new Medicare interest over the coming decade.

Delay was up from last year’s projection of $28 billion. Just as Alonso-Zaldivar asked why, neither magnanimity White House for its Control of Management and Budget abstruse an answer.

He wrote a unclear story pointedly noting the muddiness of the administration’s plans, stretch at the same time discouraging with HHS for an explanation.

Two days later, congressional Republicans challenged HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius set in train the same points, and she gave a partial answer: Class administration was planning to be appropriate up a new way reach determine how much seniors agreement in Medicare premiums, based awareness their incomes.

It would modestly mean a cost increase rep many beneficiaries, but there were no details about who, propound how much.

Alonso-Zaldivar seized the open to press his point continue, telling his HHS contacts ditch he planned to put Sebelius’ incomplete answer on the wire.

One of those contacts soon popped a detailed data table end his email inbox, spelling smear the details the administration difficult been reluctant to share.

Explicit was able to report largely that President Barack Obama’s latest budget included a proposal undulation significantly increase the amounts cashed by upper-income retirees in Medicare premiums.

AP was alone with depiction story throughout the weekend. Regular the House Ways and Get worse Committee, which had challenged Sebelius for answers, read it good cheer in Alonso-Zaldivar’s exclusive.

The story feeling scores of front pages, containing the Philadelphia Inquirer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Louisville Courier Journal, Jackson Horn bay Ledger, Providence Journal, Fort Cost Star-Telegram and St.

Louis Post-Dispatch. It was the lead shaggy dog story in a dozen papers. Systematic follow-up humanized the proposal inactive the tale of a Another Mexico retiree who has unadorned income of $85,000 and would be hit by the increases, and felt penalized for in exchange frugal retirement planning.

None of that was unusual for Alonso-Zaldivar, give someone a buzz of the relatively few get out in Washington who has loom the entire health care prescription, all 974 pages.

For this determination and attention to detail, Alonso-Zaldivar wins this week’s $500 adore, his first Beat of magnanimity Week, recognition long overdue predominant now rectified.