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Olga Pierce

Olga Pierce

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Olga Pierce has been a reporter at ProPublica since 2009, specializing in data-driven stories. She is a winner of the 2011 Livingston Award for National Reporting and received an honorable mention for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, both for her reporting on increasing corporate interference in the drawing of congressional districts. She also shared 2011 Scripps Howard and Society of Business Editors and Writers awards as part of a team focusing on foreclosures. Olga has appeared on CBS News and C-SPAN, and her stories have been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune and the Hindustan Times in New Delhi.

She is a graduate of the Stabile Investigative Journalism Seminar at Columbia University, where she won a Horton Prize for health reporting. Olga is fluent in Czech and has a bachelor’s in international economics from Georgetown University.

Articles (page 3 of 7)

‘Medicare Tax’ Now to be Called ‘Unearned Income Medicare Contribution’

March 24, 2010, 11:27 a.m.

Under the health care reconciliation proposal, individuals with earnings over $200,000 and couples with earnings over $250,000 will have to fork over 3.8 percent of their capital gains. But the bill isn't calling this a tax.

Biofuel/Health Care Mystery Demystified

March 23, 2010, 9:52 a.m.

A provision in the health care reconciliation bill could save the government billions by curbing a biofuel tax credit. A recent change in the credit has rewarded paper companies for simply continuing a process they have used for decades.

Why You Should Check Out the Health Care Bills Side by Side

March 19, 2010, 12:31 p.m.

ProPublica offers a side-by-side comparison of the Senate health care bill and the one likely to go before the House this weekend, highlighting the changes the House proposes to make.

Side By Side: Health Care Bill

March 19, 2010, 7:03 a.m.

Compare the Senate version of the 2010 Health Care overhaul bill with the final bill.

Kansas and Vermont Are the Latest Unemployment Insurance Debtors

March 9, 2010, 11:22 a.m.

Twenty-nine states plus the Virgin Islands are now borrowing money from the federal government to pay jobless benefits. Kansas and Vermont have joined the list, and increases in their employer taxes are not expected to solve their problems.

Mass. Unemployment Insurance Fund Goes Into Red

Feb. 22, 2010, 12:57 p.m.

Massachusetts has joined 26 other states with unemployment insurance funds that are insolvent. So far, the states have borrowed more than $30 billion from the federal government just to keep benefit checks in the mail.

Unemployment Insurance Borrowing Now Greater Than During 1980s Recession

Feb. 5, 2010, 10:26 a.m.

Explaining Obama’s Proposed ‘Budget Freeze’

Feb. 2, 2010, 11:44 a.m.

The spending freeze announced by President Obama will affect only about one-eighth of the federal budget, meaning the other federal programs could continue to add to the deficit. So Obama’s 2011 budget would increase overall spending by 5 percent overall.

Unemployment Insurance Funds in Colorado and New Hampshire Go Bankrupt—And Start Borrowing

Jan. 27, 2010, 8:40 a.m.

Do You Have Experience Dealing With Your State’s Unemployment Insurance System?

Jan. 21, 2010, 4:13 p.m.

Unemployment Insurance Tracker

Jan. 20, 2010, 1:33 p.m.

Tracking how long state unemployment insurance trust funds will hold up.

Two Dozen States’ Unemployment Funds in the Red, Nine More Within Six Months

Jan. 20, 2010, 12:42 a.m.

The record 20 million Americans who collected unemployment insurance benefits last year landed on a safety net that was already deeply frayed. Now 25 states have borrowed more than $25 billion to keep benefits flowing after their trust funds ran dry, and the situation is deteriorating fast elsewhere.

Payroll Taxes Increase for Many Employers Across the U.S.

Jan. 20, 2010, 12:33 a.m.

With the recession emptying unemployment insurance trust funds, many states are raising taxes on business owners, from a few dollars to nearly $1,000 per worker. And some states have started reducing or freezing the benefits that are paid out to the unemployed.

How We Did the Math on Our Unemployment Insurance Tracker

Jan. 19, 2010, 10:59 p.m.

Are You a Virginia Senior Who Gets Both Social Security and Unemployment Insurance?

Jan. 5, 2010, 10:37 a.m.

What Health Care Reform Means for: ‘Young Invincibles’

Dec. 22, 2009, 6 a.m.

Young people often forgo insurance coverage. Reform bills would no longer allow that, but what insurance they could get and how differ in each proposal.

What Health Care Reform Means for: Medicaid Recipients

Dec. 7, 2009, 10:36 a.m.

States have wide leeway in determining who is eligible for Medicaid and how well they are covered. The health reform bills in Congress would eliminate many of the disparities from state to state, making access easier for many people.

What Health Care Reform Means for: Those Already Insured

Dec. 1, 2009, 9 a.m.

What Health Care Reform Means for: The Underinsured

Nov. 24, 2009, 9:12 a.m.

Americans without group health insurance often face high out-of-pocket costs on the plans they buy on their own. A look at how the health reform bills in Congress would bring down those costs for one couple in Texas.

What Health Care Reform Means for: Medicare Programs

Nov. 17, 2009, 10:21 a.m.

In one of the most contentious issues in the health care debate, those enrolled in Medicare Advantage may see higher premiums and fewer plans to choose from if government subsidies are reduced to help pay for reform.
Olga Pierce

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