Adriana Falcón Trafford took out a long-term care insurance policy in 2001. When she signed up for the plan, the annual premium was $2,608. Now, it’s close to $7,000. Photo courtesy of Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror
The National Press Foundation will give the 2025 AARP Awards for Excellence in Journalism on Aging to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Connecticut Mirror for the large and small categories, respectively. Both winners this year covered the troubled industry of long-term care insurance.
The winners for both categories will accept their awards at the 2026 NPF Awards Dinner on March 12 at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C.
FOX 9 KMSP’s Nathan O’Neal and Casey Hooker investigated long-term care insurance companies CNA and Transamerica in Minnesota. Many policy holders among the state’s aging population purchased their policies decades ago through employers, not expecting the rate increases that have been pushed by providers. The FOX 9 investigators uncovered premiums that had increased by nearly 350% under CNA, with company presentations celebrating policy holders cancelling their plans due to the hikes. O’Neal and Hooker also investigated hundreds of complaints filed against Transamerica, exposing a claims process of “delay and deny.”
The judging panel praised the work for remaining “crisp and clear” and “accessible” despite the complexity of the topic and sheer volume of information. Judges noted that the number of journalists dedicated to the project and thoroughness of their work was extraordinary, calling the investigation a “public service to the people of Minnesota.”
O’Neal and Hooker’s work has received praise from affected families, the Elder Justice Center and the Minnesota state agency Ombudsman for Long-Term Care.
CT Mirror wins its 2nd NPF AARP Award for Excellence in Journalism on Aging
Jenna Carlesso, Andrew Brown, Dave Altimari and Katy Golvala of the CT Mirror created “Priced-Out,” a series investigating rate increases among the nearly 100,000 long-term care insurance policy holders in Connecticut. Customers increasingly face yearly rate increases upwards of 50%, sometimes climbing as high as 174%. Investigators pulled back the curtain on behind-the-scenes decisions leading to increases, from insurance executive pay incentives tied to successful rate hikes, to the ties between state regulators and providers.
Judges called the piece “incredibly well done,” and remarked that the comprehensive reporting spoke to a nationwide issue. The project made clear that “this problem can’t be solved by fixing the way the insurance works. There needs to be something done top-down. Because everyone in the country is going to have this problem.”
This is the CT Mirror’s second win in this category, after their win in 2023 for their four-part series “Connecticut’s Elder Care Reckoning.”
Spotlight PA receives honorable mention
The judges also wish to recognize Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA with an honorable mention for her work investigating elder abuse in Pennsylvania, and how government delays and inaction can have devastating consequences. Judges emphasized that the work “showed the heartbreak and struggles that people were dealing with.”
The AARP Award was established in 2023 to recognize excellence in reporting on issues related to aging and encourage journalists to cover the challenges and opportunities for people and society in the face of significant demographic trends.
Previous winners include The Washington Post and KGTV ABC 10News.
