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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

52 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.

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

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

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.

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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.

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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

    This Is Ground Zero in the Conservative Quest for More Patriotic and Christian Public Schools

    Oklahoma has spent years reshaping public schools to integrate lessons about Jesus and encourage pride in America’s history. By the time the second Trump administration began espousing its “America First” agenda, Oklahoma had been there, done that.

    Idaho Banned Vaccine Mandates. Activists Want to Make It a Model for the Country.

    The Idaho Medical Freedom Act makes it illegal to require anyone to take a vaccine or receive “medical intervention.” Leslie Manookian, the activist behind the law, hopes to make it a “societal norm” for the rest of the country.

    More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.

    The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.

    What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President

    Vought is the architect of President Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who wants to take a hatchet to the federal government.

    The Shadow President

    From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that insiders say they feel like “he is the commander in chief.”