COMMENTARY
Our Fifth Anniversary
Public Health Watch turns five years old today, with a proven record of investigative journalism that changes lives.
ENVIRONMENT
Public Health Watch Wins Two National Edward R. Murrow Awards
ENVIRONMENT
New Study: Black Lung Disease Rate in Appalachia Is the Worst in 50 Years as Coal Miner Protections Stall
It’s now as bad as it was in the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick and dying.
UNINSURED IN AMERICA
More Potential Upheaval Awaits Indiana Medicaid
New work requirements, more frequent eligibility reviews and other policy changes will reshape Medicaid for many Hoosiers beginning in 2027.
‘Powerless’: Indiana Families Describe the Toll of Losing Medicaid Access
Parents, patients and disability advocates say Indiana’s Medicaid renewal process has left many eligible families struggling to navigate paperwork requests, meet deadlines and maintain essential health coverage.
More Than Numbers: Inside Indiana’s Medicaid Enrollment Decline
Three years after enrollment peaked during the pandemic, Indiana’s Medicaid rolls continue to decline as eligibility reviews reshape the program.
Computer Modeling Shows Carcinogen From Goodyear Plant Is Invading Niagara Falls Neighborhoods
The modeling, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, shows that levels of ortho-toluidine in some areas are seven times the state’s safety guideline.
HEALTH INEQUITIES
Maternal Healthcare ‘Deserts’ Leave Thousands of Texas Women to Their Own Devices
Cash-strapped rural hospitals in East Texas and beyond are closing their labor-and-delivery units.
‘A Disservice to All of Us’: Women Speak Out About Maternal Healthcare ‘Deserts’ That Put Them and Their Babies at Risk
Pregnant women in rural East Texas sometimes drive hours to get the care they need.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Increasingly Fierce Storms Are Coming for the Upper Texas Coast. Is the Petrochemical Industry Ready?
Galveston County is home to 22 refineries and chemical plants. The level of emergency preparedness varies widely.
UNINSURED IN AMERICA
In a State Where Addiction Exacts a Steep Toll, Medicaid Work Rules Could Endanger Lives
Thousands of New Mexicans rely on Medicaid to get treatment for life-threatening substance use disorders. Keeping that coverage is about to get harder.
A Weekly Roundup of Public Health News
The Watch: Wait Times Increasing for Cancer Care
Many cancer patients face treatment delays of a month or longer … More than a third of U.S. counties are now “maternity deserts” … Most Americans feeling adverse effects from extreme heat … and more.
Read more editions of The Watch
MENTAL HEALTH
Parkinson’s Disease Is Consistently Linked to Pesticide Exposure. Farmworkers — and Nearby Communities — Are at Risk in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley.
Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest growing neurological disorder. Experts worry that people living and working in pesticide-laden agricultural regions are especially at risk.
COMMENTARY
Editorial: Officials, ag industry need to weigh convenience against public safety risks
The convenience and cheapness of using potentially hazardous chemicals on our produce will never offset the human costs of heavy pesticide use.
MENTAL HEALTH
Virginia Expands Mental Health Services With Telehealth
The state pilots a first-in-the-nation initiative to bring care to rural areas
ENVIRONMENT
Relaunch of Environmental Database Expands Emissions Data, Adds Training Sessions
The online tool now includes 10 more years of environmental data and new mapping capabilities.
CHILDREN
As Texas Vaccination Rates Fall, Vulnerable Children Face Growing Risk
From a West Texas measles outbreak to rising vaccine exemptions statewide, families of immunocompromised children depend on herd immunity, which is slowly eroding.
UNINSURED IN AMERICA
When New California Laws Kicked In, Thousands of Immigrants Dropped or Lost Medicaid Coverage
Driving the decline, experts say, are several state and federal policy changes that block or discourage immigrants from securing coverage.
SILICOSIS EPIDEMIC
California Moves Closer to Banning Fabrication of Popular Countertops
Workers who cut, grind and polish artificial-stone slabs are at extreme risk of developing the deadly lung disease silicosis.
UNINSURED IN AMERICA
Arizonans With Disabilities Depend on At-Home Services to Survive. Medicaid Cuts Could Erode Their Care.
The state’s Home and Community-Based Services for people with disabilities could be on the chopping block this year because of Medicaid cuts. One reason is that Medicaid isn’t required to cover the services.
FUMED
Energy Transfer Backs Out of Texas Gulf Coast Plastics Plant
The oil and gas logistics giant withdrew its air permit application for a chemical manufacturing complex in Nederland two weeks before it was expected to respond to opponents.
MENTAL HEALTH
Family Grieves for Man Who Died in Troubled Psychiatric Hospital
After three deaths in one year, the Laurel Ridge Treatment Center grapples with the loss of federal funding.
Laurel Ridge CEO Steps Down as Feds Cut Off Medicare, Medicaid Funds
Officials warned the abrupt loss of federal funding would force ‘massive’ layoffs, possible shutdown.
UNINSURED IN AMERICA
In a State Where Counties Decide Medicaid Access, Concerns Grow That Thousands Could Lose Coverage Due to Work Mandates
County social service agencies in North Carolina are bracing for a surge of low-income people confused over the work requirements and other changes. Will residents get enough help?
ENVIRONMENT
Inside the Texas Water Crisis Pitting Residents Against Industry
Corpus Christi is operating under reservoir shortages and city leaders have called for a formal water emergency that would cut usage by 25% for residents, small businesses and industry.
ENVIRONMENT
A Prodigious Port Arthur Polluter Will Voluntarily Install Pollution Controls, With a Catch
Quirks in its permit give the Oxbow facility leeway to operate as usual, even with the new equipment.
IMPACT
‘Fumed’ Wins First Place In National Headliner Awards
Investigative podcast explored petrochemical encroachment into a once-placid Texas community.
WORKPLACE
California May Ban Artificial-Stone Countertops
A state board is considering the drastic move, which could come as soon as May, after an outbreak of the lung disease silicosis among countertop fabricators.
MENTAL HEALTH
East Texas Hit Hard by Gun-Related Suicides
Scarcity of mental health resources, prevalence of guns and stigma attached to seeking help contribute to high suicide rates.
IMPACT
Fumed Podcast Wins Two Awards in National Business Reporting Contest
Public Health Watch’s inaugural podcast, Fumed, has won two Best in Business awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW).
WORKPLACE
Workplace Amputations Are on the Rise
Over a decade, an average of seven U.S. workers a day suffered workplace accidents that caused or led to amputations. Those numbers are expected to go up with reduced federal oversight under the Trump administration.
special report
Texas Clears the Way for Petrochemical Expansion as Experts Warn of Health Risks
Public Health Watch chronicles, in 13 scenes, a fossil-fuel infrastructure boom that could worsen air pollution in some areas and exacerbate climate change.
environment
Do you live near a refinery that uses hydrogen fluoride?
Use Public Health Watch’s interactive map to learn about the 40 refineries that use the potentially lethal chemical, their accident histories and their worst-case accident scenarios.
climate change
Massive Galveston Bay Barrier System Gets One Step Closer to Construction
A January vote to begin preliminary engineering and design work jump-started the controversial “Ike Dike” project, meant to protect against increasingly fierce hurricanes. But not everyone is celebrating.
PHW News
Two New Top Officers Elected to Public Health Watch Board
Retired NPR correspondent Howard Berkes and political strategist Cliff Walker become board chair and vice chair, respectively.
Impact
PHW Executive Director Appears on ‘Hello Houston’ to Discuss Petrochemical Investigation
Jim Morris was interviewed on the Houston Public Media talk show February 12 about health threats associated with an infrastructure boom in Texas
impact
‘Fumed’ Found Problems With Houston’s Industrial Permitting Process. The City Changed Its Policies.
Public Health Watch’s podcast highlighted residents’ lack of protection from industrial facilities moving into their neighborhoods — even when deed restrictions were in place. Three months later, the Houston Planning Department addressed the underlying problem.
fumed
The Loosely Regulated Petrochemical Barge Industry Is Commandeering a Texas River
People who live on the San Jacinto fear chemical releases and explosions from the vessels. It’s unclear who’s policing the buildup.
mental health
San Antonio Area Sees a Boom in Mental Health Providers. But Not Where Scarcity Is Severe.
The number of mental health providers in Bexar County has soared over the past five years, but the growth was heaviest in more affluent northern areas.
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Climate Change
A Fumed Bonus Episode:
‘The Scientist Who Refused to be Intimidated’
The latest episode of our podcast, Fumed, tells how a high-profile epidemiologist withstood political pressure and intimidation throughout his career in a quest to protect public health.
Listen to all Fumed episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
stories
A Community Burdened by Chemical Waste Is Demanding Cancer Data. Texas Health Officials Won’t Give It to Them.
Last year, state epidemiologists studied an industrialized region east of Houston. They reported finding high rates of cancer, but refused to release key geographic details — a decision some experts say is irresponsible.
uninsured in america
climate change
What Extreme Heat Is Doing to Your Body
As climate change intensifies, heat health risks from accelerated aging to bad decision-making grow worldwide. Here’s what you need to know.
mental health
For People With Mental Illness, the Path to Disability Benefits Can Be Long and Difficult
A shortage of mental-health providers and other barriers to proving a disabling condition can make qualifying for benefits especially challenging. Federal funding cuts could worsen the picture.
commentary
Insurance Coverage for Obesity Treatment Is Long Overdue
Legislation pending in Congress would eliminate discriminatory rules that bar anti-obesity medications from the same coverage afforded treatments of other chronic diseases. But its fate is uncertain.
Uninsured in America
Having Epilepsy and No Health Insurance Can Exact a Heavy Toll. The Plight Is Likely More Common in Texas.
Nearly 300,000 people in Texas have the life-threatening, life-altering disease. It’s expensive to treat, so health insurance is crucial, though often out of reach.
ENVIRONMENT
Trump Exempts Biggest Emitters of Two Carcinogens from Pollution Rule
Last week, the White House exempted 49 chemical plants from a 2024 rule that would have required them to monitor and control air emissions to reduce cancer risks. One-third of these plants release either ethylene oxide or chloroprene.
Trump Pollution Exemptions Would Shield Lawbreakers, Endanger Millions
Analysis shows EPA rollbacks of the HON rule would put overburdened communities at risk and benefit chemical plants that frequently violate their permits.
commentary
We’ve been here all along
Public Health Watch rarely covers breaking news, but its investigative reporting often foreshadows it. Consider the push to slash Medicaid coverage for the poor.
uninsured in america
Medicaid Cuts Could Be Devastating for the Delta and the Rest of Rural America
The “big, beautiful bill” would cause 11.8 million more Americans to become uninsured by 2034.
commentary
uninsured in america
In the Deep South, Health Care Fights Echo Civil Rights Battles
Sixty years after Medicaid was created, grassroots groups demand accessible, affordable health care in a system that continues to deny it.
The Deadly Toll of Fine-Particle Pollution in Texas
This interactive map shows how fine-particle pollution impacts the health of communities across Texas.
