4 days ago · Dozens of people died in Arizona sober living homes as state officials fumbled Medicaid fraud response. Many of the deaths in sober living homes reviewed by AZCIR and ProPublica happened as officials — in at least five instances across Republican and Democratic administrations — failed to act on evidence that rampant fraud was imperiling Native Americans whose care was paid for by the ...

3 days ago · Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they haven’t accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the scheme. At least 40 Native American residents of sober living homes and treatment facilities in the ...

At AZCIR, we value each subscriber and thank you for your interest in our work. A few words about who we are, what we do and how we’re different from most other media organizations: First, we’re a nonpartisan, data-driven news organization. That can be a mouthful, we know. Here’s what it means: 1. We don’t advocate […]

Brandon Quester is the founder, executive director and editor of the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. In a short time and with limited resources, he built AZCIR into an award-winning newsroom, becoming a regional hub for original and collaborative accountability journalism that is best known for its deep reporting on important public policy issues in Arizona and the Southwest.

4 days ago · Many of the deaths in sober living homes reviewed by AZCIR and ProPublica happened as officials — in at least five instances across Republican and Democratic administrations — failed to act on evidence that rampant fraud was imperiling Native Americans whose care was paid for by the state’s Medicaid agency.

Mar 14, 2024 · In the 10 months since Arizona officials announced an investigation into massive Medicaid billing fraud, they’ve maintained the abuse was mostly limited to a small share of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System: behavioral health providers that exploited the agency’s fee-for-service plans.

Lack of oversight, coordination hinder efforts to reform Arizona’s rise in maternal mortality. Despite a flurry of recommendations from maternal health advocates and policymakers, a lack of strategic oversight and coordination—exacerbated by budget and staffing constraints—has hindered comprehensive reforms aimed at combating Arizona’s maternal mortality crisis.

From deep-dive discussions about issues that impact the daily lives of Arizona residents to behind-the-scenes conversations about AZCIR's investigative journalism, we're working to better connect our reporting and our journalists to the communities we serve.

Dec 19, 2024 · Identifying mental health concerns early in mothers is an essential step in preventing maternal deaths, yet OB-GYNs receive little to no formal training in mental health care, experts told AZCIR. A 2019 report indicated that only 20% of OB-GYN residency directors interviewed by researchers felt trainees were entirely prepared to identify psychiatric needs in …

Dec 19, 2024 · The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting.