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Health Care

Pulling Back the Curtain on the Health Industry and Regulation

Uncovered

“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”

Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.

by T. Christian Miller,

“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak, experts warn that whooping cough and other preventable diseases could get much worse with falling vaccination rates and Trump’s slashing of public health infrastructure.

by Duaa Eldeib and Patricia Callahan, and photography by Sarahbeth Maney,

The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations

The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.

by Patricia Callahan,

Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You.

The National Institutes of Health is canceling grants that are seen as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities. We want to hear from researchers who have been affected.

by Annie Waldman, Ashley Clarke and Asia Fields,

Featured Reporters

David Armstrong
Portrait of Caroline Chen Caroline Chen
Portrait of Duaa Eldeib Duaa Eldeib
Portrait of Robin Fields Robin Fields
Portrait of Ryan Gabrielson Ryan Gabrielson
Portrait of Ava Kofman Ava Kofman
Portrait of J. David McSwane J. David McSwane
Portrait of Maya Miller Maya Miller
Portrait of Annie Waldman Annie Waldman

Impact of Our Reporting
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New Law Increases Oversight of Arizona Sober Living Homes

The legislation follows a ProPublica and Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting investigation on a $2 billion Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol treatment.

by Mary Hudetz,

An Indian Drugmaker, Investigated by ProPublica Last Year, Has Recalled Two Dozen Medications Sold to U.S. Patients

FDA inspectors found serious problems at a Glenmark factory in India that manufactured the recalled drugs. Another medication made there has been tied to deaths of U.S. patients.

by Patricia Callahan,

Life of the Mother

Texas GOP Lawmakers Propose Amending Abortion Ban Linked to Deaths and a Rise in Sepsis Cases

The bill comes after ProPublica’s reporting on the deaths of three Texas women. It specifies that doctors don’t need to wait until an emergency is “imminent” to terminate pregnancies but leaves in steep penalties for those who violate the law.

by Kavitha Surana and Cassandra Jaramillo,

Series

Series: Life of the Mother: How Abortion Bans Lead to Preventable Deaths

Series: America’s Mental Barrier: How Insurers Interfere With Mental Health Care

Series: Veterans Without Assistance: Investigating Mental Health Care in the VA System

Series: Long-Term Challenge: Maine’s Lax Oversight of Residential Care Facilities

Series: With Every Breath: Millions of Breathing Machines. One Dangerous Defect

Series: Arterial Motives: The Big Business of Clogged Arteries

Series: The Hospice Hustle: How a Visionary Movement Became a Plaything for Profiteers

Series: Culture of Cruelty: Inside Illinois’ Mental Health System

Series: Stillbirths: When Babies Die Before Taking Their First Breath

Series: Crisis Point: How New York Wrecked Mental Health Care for Kids

Series: HeartWare: Deadly Malfunctions, FDA Inaction and Vulnerable Patients

Series: St. Jude’s Unspent Billions: Behind the Hospital’s Claims to Donors

Families looking pensive at an edifice made of paperwork protecting doctors and lawyers talking to each other.

Series: Birth Rights: Investigating Florida’s NICA Program

Series: State of Denial: Inside Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities

Series: Critical Condition: Investigating the Business of Oklahoma’s Rural Hospitals

Series: Coronavirus: The U.S. Response to COVID-19

Series: Opioid Billionaires: The Deceptive Marketing of OxyContin

Series: A 911 Emergency: Rhode Island’s Deadly 911 Flaws

Series: The $3 Million Research Breakdown: University of Illinois at Chicago’s Troubling Study

Series: Sloan Kettering’s Crisis: A Reckoning Over Industry Ties

Series: A Sick System: Repeat Attacks After Pleading Insanity

Series: Trauma After Tragedy: PTSD in First Responders

Series: Stuck Kids: Illinois Children Languish in Psychiatric Hospitals

Series: Health Insurance Hustle: The Confounding Way We Pay for Care

Series: Heart Failure: The Decline of a Historic Transplant Program

Series: Lost Mothers: Maternal Care and Preventable Deaths

Series: Wasted Medicine: Squandered Health Care Dollars

Series: Policing Patient Privacy: Patient Privacy and Medical Care

Series: Examining Medicare: A Closer Look at Medicare Part B

Series: Obamacare and You: The Rollout of the Affordable Care Act

Series: Overdose: Acetaminophen and Accidental Overdoses

Series: Nursing Homes

Series: Patient Safety: Exploring Quality of Care in the U.S.

Series: Dialysis: High Costs and Hidden Perils of a Treatment Guaranteed to All

Series: Dollars for Doctors: How Industry Money Reaches Physicians

Series: Omniscan: Specter of MRI Disease Haunts General Electric

Series: When Caregivers Harm: America’s Unwatched Nurses

901 stories published since 2008

New Law Increases Oversight of Arizona Sober Living Homes

by Mary Hudetz,

An Indian Drugmaker, Investigated by ProPublica Last Year, Has Recalled Two Dozen Medications Sold to U.S. Patients

by Patricia Callahan,

New Utah Law Seeks to Crack Down on Life Coaches Offering Therapy Without a License

by Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune,

Texas GOP Lawmakers Propose Amending Abortion Ban Linked to Deaths and a Rise in Sepsis Cases

by Kavitha Surana and Cassandra Jaramillo,

We Found Widespread Abuse of Disabled Patients at an Illinois Facility. The DOJ Is Investigating.

by Beth Hundsdorfer and Molly Parker, Capitol News Illinois,

The State Medical Board Has Evidence This Doctor Was Hurting Patients. It Renewed His License — Twice.

by J. David McSwane, ProPublica, and Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press,

Thousands of Families Experience Stillbirth. Three Moms Tell Their Stories in a New Documentary.

by Nadia Sussman, Liz Moughon, Duaa Eldeib, Margaret Cheatham Williams and Lisa Riordan Seville,

The FDA Finally Visited an Indian Drug Factory Linked to U.S. Deaths. It Found Problems.

by Patricia Callahan,

Before a Breath: America’s Stillbirth Crisis

by Nadia Sussman, Liz Moughon, Margaret Cheatham Williams and Lisa Riordan Seville,

This Hospital System Fought COVID, Then a Far-Right Leader. Now It’s Taking on Idaho’s Abortion Ban.

by Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, and Kelcie Moseley-Morris, States Newsroom,

What a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Reveals About America’s Largest Oxygen Provider

by Peter Elkind,

As Idaho Pushes to Reform Its Coroner System, Counties Seek to Make It Less Transparent

by Audrey Dutton,

A New Missouri Bill Would Let Residents Donate to Anti-Abortion Centers Instead of Paying Any Taxes

by Jeremy Kohler,

Georgia Won’t Say Who’s Now Serving on Its Maternal Mortality Committee After Dismissing All Members Last Year

by Amy Yurkanin,

Montana Renews Accused Cancer Doctor’s License Despite Criminal, Civil Inquiries

by Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press, and J. David McSwane, ProPublica,

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

by Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana,

Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did

by Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Lizzie Presser,

Georgia Touts Its Medicaid Experiment as a Success. The Numbers Tell a Different Story.

by Margaret Coker, The Current,

What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing

by Robin Fields,

Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked

by Jeremy Kohler,

Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud Response

by Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, and Hannah Bassett, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting,

Insurers Failed to Comply With Mental Health Coverage Law, Department of Labor Report Finds

by Duaa Eldeib, Maya Miller, Annie Waldman and Max Blau,

Is a New Mississippi Law Decreasing Jailings of People Awaiting Mental Health Treatment? The State Doesn’t Know.

by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today,

Lawmakers in at Least Seven States Seek Expanded Abortion Access

by Ziva Branstetter and Cassandra Jaramillo,

Her Mental Health Treatment Was Helping. That’s Why Insurance Cut Off Her Coverage.

by Maya Miller and Duaa Eldeib,

Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts

by Duaa Eldeib and Maya Miller, with research by Kirsten Berg,

The CDC Hasn’t Asked States to Track Deaths Linked to Abortion Bans

by Kavitha Surana, Robin Fields and Ziva Branstetter,

Report: Hospitals Rarely Advise Doctors on How to Treat Patients Under Abortion Bans

by Kavitha Surana,

If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life

by Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser,

Are Abortion Bans Across America Causing Deaths? The States That Passed Them Are Doing Little to Find Out.

by Kavitha Surana, Mariam Elba, Cassandra Jaramillo, Robin Fields and Ziva Branstetter,

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism

by Annie Waldman,

A Coast Guard Commander Miscarried. She Nearly Died After Being Denied Care.

by Erin Edwards for ProPublica and Robin Fields,

The FDA Hasn’t Inspected This Drug Factory After 7 Recalls for the Same Flaw, 1 Potentially Deadly

by Patricia Callahan, Debbie Cenziper and Megan Rose,

Sign Up to Screen Our New Documentary About Stillbirths

by Nadia Sussman, Duaa Eldeib, Liz Moughon and Lisa Riordan Seville,

“Eat What You Kill”

by J. David McSwane,

Missouri Voters Enshrined Abortion Rights. GOP Lawmakers Are Already Working to Roll Them Back.

by Jeremy Kohler,

If Trump Makes Cuts to Medicaid, Texas Officials Could Seize the Opportunity to Further Slash the Program

by Lomi Kriel and Jessica Priest,

A Timeline of Failed Efforts to Reform Idaho’s Coroner System

by Audrey Dutton,

For Decades, Calls for Reform to Idaho’s Troubled Coroner System Have Gone Unanswered

by Audrey Dutton,

Maine Proposes Major Staffing Increases for Assisted Living and Residential Care Facilities

Rose Lundy, The Maine Monitor,

A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban. Doctors Are Avoiding D&Cs and Reaching for Riskier Miscarriage Treatments.

by Lizzie Presser and Kavitha Surana,

How Lincare Cashed In on the Disastrous Recall of Philips Breathing Machines — at the Expense of Patients

by Peter Elkind,

Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica Obtained Internal Details of Two Deaths

by Amy Yurkanin,

Texas Lawmakers Push for New Exceptions to State’s Strict Abortion Ban After the Deaths of Two Women

by Cassandra Jaramillo, Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser and Ziva Branstetter,

How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk

by Annie Waldman,

State Regulators Know Health Insurance Directories Are Full of Wrong Information. They’re Doing Little to Fix It.

by Max Blau,

How Lincare Became a Multibillion-Dollar Medicare Scofflaw

by Peter Elkind,

An Idaho Baby’s Unexplained Death Got No Autopsy and a Scant Coroner’s Investigation. State Law Says That’s Fine.

by Audrey Dutton, photography by Natalie Behring for ProPublica,

ProPublica’s Coverage of the Election Issues That Matter to Voters

by ProPublica,

Una mujer de Texas murió después de que el hospital dijera que sería un “delito” intervenir en su aborto espontáneo

por Cassandra Jaramillo y Kavitha Surana,