Ina Jaffe Ina Jaffe is a National Desk correspondent based at NPR West, NPR's production center in Culver City, California.
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Ina Jaffe

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Ina Jeffe
Jennifer Cawley/NPR

Ina Jaffe

Correspondent, National Desk

Ina Jaffe is a veteran NPR correspondent covering the aging of America. Her stories on Morning Edition and All Things Considered have focused on older adults' involvement in politics and elections, dating and divorce, work and retirement, fashion and sports, as well as issues affecting long term care and end of life choices. In 2015, she was named one of the nation's top "Influencers in Aging" by PBS publication Next Avenue, which wrote "Jaffe has reinvented reporting on aging."

Jaffe also reports on politics, contributing to NPR's coverage of national elections since 2008. From her base at NPR's production center in Culver City, California, Jaffe has covered most of the region's major news events, from the beating of Rodney King to the election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She's also developed award-winning enterprise pieces. Her 2012 investigation into how the West Los Angeles VA made millions from illegally renting vacant property while ignoring plans to house homeless veterans won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. A few months after the story aired, the West Los Angeles VA broke ground on supportive housing for homeless vets.

Her year-long coverage on the rising violence in California's public psychiatric hospitals won the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award as well as a Gracie Award. Her 2010 series on California's tough three strikes law was honored by the American Bar Association with the Silver Gavel Award, as well as by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, which made its debut in 1985.

Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin and DePaul University, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.

Story Archive

Sunday

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Tuesday

Lisa Howze, Gia Howze and Palestine Howze. Palestine Howze died last year. Now her family is suing Treyburn Rehabilitation Center, where she lived. Lisa Howze hide caption

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Lisa Howze

Nursing Home Critics Say COVID-19 Immunity Laws Are A Free Pass For Neglect

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Monday

Why Nursing Homes' COVID-19 Legal Shields May Interfere With Other Cases

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Sunday

What Can Be Done To Make Nursing Homes Safer

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Thursday

Researchers say 70% of nursing homes are for-profit, and low staffing is common. Jackyenjoyphotography/Getty Images hide caption

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Jackyenjoyphotography/Getty Images

For-Profit Nursing Homes' Pleas For Government Money Brings Scrutiny

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Thursday

Larry Yarbroff visits his wife Mary at Chaparral House in Berkeley, Calif. in July. California health authorities had allowed some visits to resume, and now federal regulators are doing the same, with measures to try to block the spread of the coronavirus. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

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Jeff Chiu/AP

Tuesday

Hundreds of nursing home residents have been transferred as a result of their facilities treating COVID-19 patients only. Joelle Sedlmeyer/Getty Images hide caption

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Joelle Sedlmeyer/Getty Images

Nursing Home Residents Moved Out To Make Way For COVID-19 Patients

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Tuesday

A new report found that citations for over-prescribing antipsychotics to nursing home residents declined significantly between the end of the Obama administration and the first half of the Trump administration. Shannon Reiswig/Getty Images/EyeEm hide caption

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Shannon Reiswig/Getty Images/EyeEm

Monday

An ambulance pulls up outside a nursing home in Brooklyn, N.Y. Two members of Congress have called for an investigation of five states, including New York, which ordered nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Justin Heiman/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Heiman/Getty Images

Friday

A sign posted near the entrance to the Kimberly Hall South nursing home shows the home closed to visitors, Thursday, May 14 in Windsor, Conn. The coronavirus has had no regard for health care quality or ratings as it has swept through nursing homes around the world, killing efficiently even in highly rated care centers. Chris Ehrmann/AP hide caption

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Chris Ehrmann/AP

Why Were Some Nursing Homes Spared The Devastation of COVID-19? Depends Who You Ask

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Why Some Nursing Homes Are Devastated By COVID-19 While Others Remain Untouched

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Thursday

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., seen in 2014, asked the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday why more coronavirus funds were not being spent on nursing homes. White House Pool/Getty Images hide caption

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White House Pool/Getty Images

Tuesday

Luann Thibodeau recently celebrated her 40th anniversary with her husband, Jeff. They ate dinner from Olive Garden while she remained on the other side of his nursing room window. The Thibodeaus have not been in the same room since mid-March when visitors were banned from nursing homes to slow the spread of the coronavirus. JerSean Golatt for NPR hide caption

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JerSean Golatt for NPR

Banned From Nursing Homes, Families See Shocking Decline In Their Loved Ones

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Monday

Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma, pictured at a White House event last month, says her agency will be stepping up fines for nursing homes that fail to sufficiently control infections. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

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Evan Vucci/AP

Thursday

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Ideal Nursing Homes: Individual Rooms, Better Staffing, More Accountability

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Tuesday

What Happened Today: Coronavirus Task Force Members Testify, Nursing Homes Questions

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Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes Cracks In Nursing Home System

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Wednesday

Two workers approach the entrance to Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., on March 13. An association that represents nursing homes is asking for billions of dollars in federal relief funds to cope with the coronavirus crisis. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption

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Ted S. Warren/AP

Thursday

President Trump, surrounded by federal officials on Thursday, signs a proclamation for Older Americans Month during an event on protecting seniors from the coronavirus. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Wednesday

Tuesday

Saturday

Concerns Over Giving Nursing Homes Civil Immunity Protections

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Thursday

A tip led police to more than a dozen bodies at the the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in Andover, N.J. The state is among those that grant temporary immunity from civil suits to nursing homes. Ted Shaffrey/AP hide caption

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Ted Shaffrey/AP