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America’s Mental Barrier

He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame.

The mother of Ravi Coutinho, the subject of a recent ProPublica investigation, is suing Centene for publishing “misleading” information that gave her son a false impression about the kinds of mental health care that were actually available.

Culture of Cruelty

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

A federal probe into Illinois’ treatment of disabled people will examine abuse and neglect allegations at state-run residential institutions — including Choate, the subject of a yearlong Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica investigation.

Local Reporting Network

America’s Mental Barrier

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

The probe found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care, echoing the findings of a recent ProPublica investigation.

Series

51 stories published since 2008

He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arizona Cracked Down on Medicaid Fraud That Targeted Native Americans. It Left Patients Without Care.

New Biden Administration Rules Aim to Hold Insurers Accountable for Mental Health Care Coverage

“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network

Struggling to Find an In-Network Mental Health Provider? Here’s What You Can Do.

What Mental Health Care Protections Exist in Your State?

Why It’s So Hard to Find a Therapist Who Takes Insurance

When Therapists Lose Their Licenses, Some Turn to the Unregulated Life Coaching Industry Instead

This Mississippi Hospital Transfers Some Patients to Jail to Await Mental Health Treatment

Mississippi Lawmakers Move to Limit the Jail Detentions of People Awaiting Mental Health Treatment

Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chair Calls for More Mental Health Care Providers in Rural Areas

After Decades of Imprisoning Patients, Idaho Approves Secure Mental Health Facility

Lawmakers Could Limit When County Officials in Mississippi Can Jail People Awaiting Psychiatric Treatment

In Crisis, She Went to an Illinois Facility. Two Years Later, She Still Isn’t Able to Leave.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Vows to Increase Staffing at Clinic Tied to Two Deadly Shootings

5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into How Mississippi Counties Jail People for Mental Illness

How the VA Fails Veterans on Mental Health

Three Days of Tragedy: How a VA Clinic’s Inability to Help Veterans in Crisis Destroyed Two Families

Idaho Keeps Some Psychiatric Patients in Prison, Ignoring Decades of Warnings About the Practice

Mississippi Jailed More Than 800 People Awaiting Psychiatric Treatment in a Year. Just One Jail Meets State Standards.

Legislators Demand Hearings on Illinois Mental Health Facility Where Staff Abused Patients and Covered It Up

New Report Says Nurses at Illinois Facility Forced Patients to Dig Through Their Own Feces

Patients Went to This Isolated Facility for Treatment. Instead, Nearly Two Dozen Were Charged With Crimes.

Child Welfare Experts Say New Mexico Can’t Put Kids in Homeless Shelters Just Because It Lacks Other Beds

Report Finds “Code of Silence” at Mental Health Facility Where Staff Abused and Neglected Patients

Chilling Audio Provides Rare Glimpse Into Abuse at Troubled Illinois Residential Facility

Critical Omissions Plague Texas Gun Background Check Law

“We’re at a Crisis Point”: NY Attorney General Hearing Spotlights Child Mental Health Care Failures

New York State Failed to Provide Legally Required Mental Health Care to Kids, Lawsuit Claims

Cuomo Set Out to “Transform” Mental Health Care for Kids. Now They Can’t Get Treatment.

In Men, It’s Parkinson’s. In Women, It’s Hysteria.

University of Illinois at Chicago Missed Warning Signs of Research Going Awry, Letters Show

Illinois Regulators Are Investigating a Psychiatrist Whose Research With Children Was Marred by Misconduct

He Said He Faked Mental Illness to Avoid Prison. Now, Accused in 2 Killings, He’s Sent Back to a State Hospital.

Steve Cohen Is Spending Millions to Help Veterans. Why Are People Angry?

Documents Raise New Concerns About Lithium Study on Children

The $3 Million Research Breakdown

Oregon Doctors Warned That a Killer and Rapist Would Likely Attack Again. Then the State Released Him.

Lost Mothers

In a Lonely Corner of Coney Island, a Fight Over Care for the Vulnerable

Federal Judge Sees New York State Conspiracy to Thwart Care for Mentally Ill

New Jersey Psychology Practice Revealed Patients’ Mental Disorders in Debt Lawsuits

Why Hospitals Are Failing Civilians Who Get PTSD

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention

    One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.

    His Kidney Failed. He’ll Never Know if a Transplant Drug From a Banned Factory Was to Blame.

    When Joe DeMayo’s donated kidney started to fail earlier than expected, he didn’t know that the drug he was taking could’ve left him vulnerable — and that one of the most formidable drug regulators in the world may have failed to protect him.

    Seven Things to Know About ProPublica’s Investigation of the FDA’s Secret Gamble on Generic Drugs

    ProPublica spent 14 months investigating the FDA’s oversight of foreign drugmakers that send medications to the U.S. These are the key takeaways.

    The End of Aid

    Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations

    Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while undermining anti-terrorism initiatives.

    How Hotels, Once a Last Resort, Became New York’s Default Answer to Homelessness

    Statewide spending on hotels has more than tripled in recent years. The shift away from shelters has prevented families from accessing services like child care and help finding housing.

    Local Reporting Network