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Investigative reporter with @ProPublica's South bureau, covering health care, public health, and the environment. Find me at maxblau.bsky.social/
Articles by Max Blau
We’re Investigating Prior Authorization. Help ProPublica Understand Your Health Insurance Denial.
Last year, many of America’s largest health insurers vowed to reduce their use of prior authorization — the extra layer of approval insurers require before covering a medical expense. The industry’s pledge came after massive backlash to the process from patients, providers and politicians. ProPublica’s reporting has found it can delay or outright deny patients’ critical medical care. Data as of last year the industry is still relying heavily on the approval process.
This state is spending more on lethal injections. A law tries to keep the details secret
Credit: Illustration by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica Georgia prison physician Carlo Musso was one of the rare doctors who’d openly talked about his role in lethal injections. After he stepped away from that work last decade, the state has made it difficult to determine who replaced him. The role Musso held is so controversial that more than a dozen states have made it illegal to disclose the names of those involved with lethal injections. Georgia is among them.
This State Is Spending More On Lethal Injections. A Law Tries To Keep The Details Secret.
This State Is Spending More on Lethal Injections. A Law Tries to Keep the Details Secret. The role Musso held is so controversial that more than a dozen states have made it illegal to disclose the names of those involved with lethal injections. Georgia is among them. The state has gone to great lengths to hide the details around how it carries out lethal injections.
This State Is Spending More on Lethal Injections. A Law Tries to Keep the Details Secret.
Before I joined ProPublica in 2021, I had spent a year writing about a Georgia prison physician named Carlo Musso, one of the rare doctors who’d openly talked about his role in lethal injections. After he stepped away from that work, I wanted to know who replaced him, so I filed open records requests for documents that would shed light on that. The role Musso held is so controversial that more than a dozen states have made it illegal to disclose the names of those involved with lethal injections.
How the Government’s Obligation to Keep Foreign Workers Safe Collided With Its Efforts to Keep Farms Afloat
It’s been nearly two years since I started reporting on abuses of foreign farmworkers in Georgia. Some of the workers I tracked down had come to the U.S. legally through the H-2A visa program and were harmed and exploited by labor contractors — despite protections that were supposed to be guaranteed by the federal government.
How the Government’s Obligation to Keep Foreign Workers Safe Collided With Its Efforts to Keep Farms Afloat
It’s been nearly two years since I started reporting on abuses of foreign farmworkers in Georgia. Some of the workers I tracked down had come to the U.S. legally through the H-2A visa program and were harmed and exploited by labor contractors — despite protections that were supposed to be guaranteed by the federal government.
How the Government’s Obligation to Keep Foreign Workers Safe Collided With Its Efforts to Keep Farms Afloat
Civil Rights 1 hour ago Anyone who wanted Lindsey Graham’s career had to appear straight. And the closet persists. Los Angeles Times - Darren Rosenblum • 1h Having died earlier this month after two decades in the Senate, Lindsey Graham is likely to be remembered for his roles in foreign policy and his imprimatur on Trumpism. For LGBTQ+ people especially, he may be remembered as the last closet case.
My Maddening Quest to Find Out if Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed
Over the past year, I’ve reported about crimes against farmworkers who have come to the U.S. legally from Mexico and Central America. I haven’t stopped thinking about how they suffered. Their wages were stolen, guns were pointed in their faces, and one woman I met was held captive, raped and nearly killed. Over the past year, I’ve reported about crimes against farmworkers who have come to the U.S. legally from Mexico and Central America. I haven’t stopped thinking about how they suffered.
A U.S. Senate candidate says foreign truckers are making America’s roads unsafe. His own truckers have caused harm
A Georgia congressman running for one of the country's most competitive U.S. Senate seats has vowed in social media posts and interviews to make America's roads safer -- by taking commercial driver's licenses away from noncitizens. "If you can't read English road signs," Mike Collins, a Republican, posted on Facebook in April, "you don't belong behind the wheel.
Author Archives: Max Blau/ProPublica
Mike Collins, a congressman from Georgia, wants to take away commercial driver’s licenses from noncitizens. Over the past 25 years, truckers for his businesses have been involved in crashes that killed five people and injured more than 50 people.
A U.S. Senate Candidate Says Foreign Truckers Are Making America’s Roads Unsafe. His Own Truckers Have Caused Harm.
A Georgia congressman running for one of the country’s most competitive U.S. Senate seats has vowed in social media posts and interviews to make America’s roads safer — by taking commercial driver’s licenses away from noncitizens. “If you can’t read English road signs,” Mike Collins, a Republican, posted on Facebook in April, “you don’t belong behind the wheel.
Mike Collins says foreign truckers make roads unsafe. His own truckers harmed motorists.
INVESTIGATION Rep. Collins, running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, wants to take away commercial licenses of noncitizens. A review of his own truckers’ record shows death, injuries over the decades. Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins spent most of his life running a trucking business. ProPublica’s analysis of federal motor vehicle data shows that truckers for the business have a higher rate of unsafe driving and speeding violations per mile than the majority of similar companies in recent years.
A U.S. Senate Candidate Says Foreign Truckers Are Making America’s Roads Unsafe. His Own Truckers Have Caused Harm.
9 hours ago The once-powerful aide’s influence has quietly diminished. Just hours before Stephen Miller arrived at the Mar-a-Lago ballroom on New Year’s Eve—where he would welcome 2026 by dancing next to the soon-to-be-defenestrated homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, as the 1990s cultural relic Vanilla …
Insurer Agrees to Pay Millions for Failing to Fix Errors That Made It Harder for Customers to Get Mental Health Care
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation. By Max Blau / ProPublica One of New York’s largest health insurers is set to pay a multimillion-dollar fine for failing to fix a series of errors that made it harder for its customers to get mental health care.
Insurer agrees to pay millions for failing to fix errors that made it harder for customers to get mental health care
One of New York's largest health insurers is set to pay a multimillion-dollar fine for failing to fix a series of errors that made it harder for its customers to get mental health care. EmblemHealth this week agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the New York attorney general's office because of the large number of inaccuracies in its listings of in-network mental health providers, a problem that has persisted for years.
The Dramatic Rise of Farm Labor Contractors Has Led to Rampant Abuses. Here’s Why Regulators Have Failed to Stop Them.
In the summer of 2019, a crew leader tasked with overseeing farm laborers sent them to harvest corn in a field where they weren’t authorized to work — and where there wasn’t adequate protection from the sweltering sun. One of them died of symptoms of heatstroke. Five months later, a crew leader for another Georgia farm kidnapped and brutally assaulted one of his workers who had escaped.
They Couldn't Access Mental Healthcare When They Needed It. Now They're Suing Their Insurer.
A new lawsuit alleges that an insurer's ghost network hindered New York City employees from accessing the mental health care they sought — and harmed the reputation of psychiatrists wrongly listed as being in-network. Health insurers rarely face consequences for errors in their provider directories that make it difficult for many consumers to find in-network mental health care.
They Couldn’t Access Mental Health Care When They Needed It. Now They’re Suing Their Insurer.
In late 2024, Nimrod Shimrony, an emergency medical technician for the New York City Fire Department, tried to end his life. After completing an intensive outpatient treatment program, he and his wife searched for a therapist for months. Valeria Calderón, a special education teacher with New York City’s public school system, suffered a miscarriage that same year. Before she tried to have a baby again, she sought help with the depression and anxiety she had been struggling with.
They couldn't access mental health care. Now they're suing their insurer.
This story was originally published by ProPublica.In late 2024, Nimrod Shimrony, an emergency medical technician for the New York City Fire Department, tried to end his life. After completing an intensive outpatient treatment program, he and his wife searched for a therapist for months.Valeria Caldern, a special education teacher with New York City's public school system, suffered a miscarriage that same year.
Farmworkers are frequently exploited. But few farms participate in a program that could prevent abuse.
ProPublica Some of America’s largest produce buyers have not participated in the program, stating that it’s the responsibility of the farms to ensure that their workers are treated fairly. This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Farmworkers Are Frequently Exploited. But Few Farms Participate in a Program That Experts Say Could Prevent Abuse.
State Library and Archives of Florida, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons by Max Blau for ProPublica In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.
Farmworkers Are Frequently Exploited. But Few Farms Participate in a Program That Experts Say Could Prevent Abuse.
When Jon Esformes was in his 20s, farmworkers staged protests outside one of his family’s tomato farms, in California’s Central Valley, calling out the fact they were paid less than 50 cents for each bucket of produce they picked. The summer of 1989 was particularly memorable: The demonstrations were tense — strikers warned that anyone who crossed the picket line would “pay with your blood” — and then turned violent. Someone threw a rock at Esformes’ head, leaving him with a scar.
I Filmed the ICE Officer Who Shoved a Woman. It Felt Like the New Normal.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken one of its agents off the streets after he was caught on video throwing a distraught mother to the floor of a New York City courthouse in front of her two children on Thursday.
Employers Have Exploited and Abused H-2A Farmworkers for Years. It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.
The H-2A visa program has long been touted as a way to ensure that farmers can access enough workers without hiring people who are undocumented. But for some migrant farmworkers seeking better-paying jobs in America, their seasonal gigs have morphed into a nightmare. As a recent ProPublica story revealed, the promises of the H-2A visa program can be undermined by extreme abuses the workers suffer, mostly by labor contractors.
Employers Have Exploited and Abused H-2A Farmworkers for Years. It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.
Billionaire Elon Musk has scooped up roughly $1bn (£735m) worth of Tesla shares, in what is being seen as a vote of confidence in the electric car maker. Shares in Tesla, which have struggled to advance this year, jumped more than 6% in early trading on Monday on the news. Musk already held a roughly …
The H-2A Visa Trap
This story contains descriptions of sexual assaults. In the darkness before dawn, Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. took the last drag of a cigarette and looked out from the staircase of a run-down motel. Underneath the stark floodlights streamed a procession of weary travelers in T-shirts and jeans, reaching into the bottom of a white coach bus for their oversize duffel bags.
Ohio Chaplain’s Case Shows How 9/11-Era Terror Rules Could Empower Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
The story you just read was made possible by our readers. We hope it inspires you to support ProPublica, so we can continue producing investigations that shine a light on power, uncover the truth, and drive real change. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to nonpartisan, evidence-based journalism that holds power accountable.
Lawsuit by mother of Arizona man says insurer's ghost network to blame for his death
ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The mother of an Arizona man who died after being unable to find mental health treatment is suing his health insurer, saying it broke the law by publishing false information that misled its customers.
The Tech Recruitment Ruse That Has Avoided Trump’s Crackdown on Immigration
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. There’s periodic debate over the 120,000 foreigners annually awarded temporary H-1B visas, but almost no attention to the process by which many receive green cards. Foreign workers are eligible for permanent residency only when no U.S. citizens can do the job — but companies confirm that after foreigners have been employed as temps.
He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The mother of an Arizona man who died after being unable to find mental health treatment is suing his health insurer, saying it broke the law by publishing false information that misled its customers.
He Died Without Getting Mental Health Care He Sought. A New Lawsuit Says His Insurer’s Ghost Network Is to Blame.
1 hour ago What if wealth wasn’t a driveway full of cars—but the freedom to not need them? There’s a financial crisis hiding in plain sight: the American household vehicle fleet. Families are hemorrhaging money through car payments, insurance, fuel, maintenance, depreciation, parking, and registration. In many …
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. The lawsuit accuses Centene and subsidiary Health Net of Arizona of publishing an 'inaccurate and misleading' provider directory.
Insurers Failed to Comply With Mental Health Coverage Law, Department of Labor Report Finds %
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The U.S. Department of Labor found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care, findings that mirror a recent ProPublica investigation.
Insurers failed to comply with mental health coverage law, Department of Labor report finds
By Duaa Eldeib, Maya Miller, Annie Waldman and Max Blau This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Insurers Failed to Comply With Mental Health Coverage Law, Department of Labor Report Finds
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Insurers Failed to Comply With Mental Health Coverage Law, Department of Labor Report Finds
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. The U.S. Department of Labor found widespread noncompliance and violations of federal law in how health plans and insurers cover mental health care, findings that mirror a recent ProPublica investigation.
State regulators know health insurance directories are full of wrong information. They’re doing little to fix it.
By Max Blau This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: America’s Mental Barrier: How Insurers Interfere With Mental Health Care More in this series Reporting Highlights Extensive Errors: Many states have sought to make insurers clean up their health plans’ provider directories over the past decade. But the errors are still widespread.
State Regulators Know Health Insurance Directories Are Full of Wrong Information. They’re Doing Little to Fix It.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Many states have sought to make insurers clean up their health plans’ provider directories over the past decade. But the errors are still widespread. Most state insurance agencies haven’t issued a fine for provider directory errors since 2019. When companies have been penalized, the fines have been small and sporadic.
‘I Don’t Want to Die.’ He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or be in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Early one morning in February 2023, before the sun rose over Phoenix, Ravi Coutinho went on a walk and, for a brief moment, thought about hurling his body in front of a moving bus. He had been feeling increasingly alone and depressed; anxious and unlovable; no longer sure if he was built for this world.
Up against a ‘ghost network’ for mental health care? Here’s what you can do
It’s hard to know if your health insurance plan is as good as advertised. You pay a monthly premium to access a network of health providers. But call the numbers in your provider directory, and you’re bound to find ones who can’t — or won’t — see you. These errors are at the heart of a ghost network. Some providers have moved, retired or even died; others left insurance networks because of low pay and intense scrutiny.
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