Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Jenny Deam

Jenny Deam was a reporter covering health care with ProPublica.

Jenny Deam was a reporter covering health care with ProPublica.

Known for her sharp news instincts and narrative writing skills, Deam came to ProPublica from the Houston Chronicle, where she had worked since 2015. With an investigative focus on the business of health care, she wrote about health care fraud and the uneasy intersection of politics, providers and the insurance industry. Her reporting on systemic billing irregularities led to tough new patient protection laws.

Before the Chronicle, Deam was based in Denver as a special correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, covering Colorado and the region. Her work there included extensive coverage of the Aurora movie theater massacre and its aftermath, the early days of marijuana legalization and the rise of fracking. She has also reported for the Denver Post, St. Petersburg Times and Kansas City Star.

A two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award, Deam was part of the team that became a finalist for Pulitzer Prize for breaking news in 2018 for coverage of Hurricane Harvey.

They Trusted Their Prenatal Test. They Didn’t Know the Industry Is an Unregulated “Wild West.”

As regulators stay on the sideline, a growing industry expands its reach but leaves some pregnant patients feeling misled and heartbroken.

by Anna Clark, Adriana Gallardo, Jenny Deam and Mariam Elba,

“The Human Psyche Was Not Built for This”

How Republicans in Montana hijacked public health and brought a hospital to the brink

by Marilyn W. Thompson and Jenny Deam, research by Mollie Simon, illustrations by Kitra Cahana, special to ProPublica,

I’ve Covered Seven Mass Shootings. These Are the Memories That Haunt Me.

Columbine High School. Platte Canyon High School. Virginia Tech. Deer Creek Middle School. Aurora movie theater. Arapahoe High School. Santa Fe High School. ProPublica reporter Jenny Deam reflects on covering them all.

by Jenny Deam,

Coronavirus

A Boy Went to a COVID-Swamped ER. He Waited for Hours. Then His Appendix Burst.

Non-COVID patients are paying a price as the delta variant and low-vaccination rates overwhelm hospitals across the country. “Wait times can now be measured in days,” said an expert.

by Jenny Deam,

Coronavirus

The CDC Only Tracks a Fraction of Breakthrough COVID-19 Infections, Even as Cases Surge

A May 1 decision by the CDC has left the nation with a muddled understanding of COVID-19’s impact on the vaccinated.

by Jenny Deam and Bianca Fortis,

Coronavirus

“Don’t You Work With Old People?”: Many Elder-Care Workers Still Refuse to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Amid a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” more than 40% of the nation’s nursing home and long-term health care workers have yet to receive vaccinations.

by Jenny Deam, Ryan Gabrielson and Bianca Fortis,

Some Hospitals Kept Suing Patients Over Medical Debt Through the Pandemic

Court actions by hospitals to collect patient debt dropped sharply during the pandemic. But a new study says some of the nation’s largest hospital systems kept filing lawsuits, liens and garnishments — and most were nonprofit.

by Jenny Deam,

He Bought Health Insurance for Emergencies. Then He Fell Into a $33,601 Trap.

Since the Trump administration deregulated the health insurance industry, there’s been an explosion of short-term plans that leave patients with surprise bills and providers with huge revenue.

by Jenny Deam,