<p>Two years after Arizona officials uncovered a $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans seeking treatment for addictions, the state has recouped $125 million — just 5% of the funds the state estimates it paid to bad actors.</p><p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-medicaid-fraud-investigation-taxpayer-funds?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.propublica.org/article/arizona-medicaid-fraud-investigation-taxpayer-funds?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.propublica.org/article/ari</span><span class="invisible">zona-medicaid-fraud-investigation-taxpayer-funds?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/news/" rel="tag">#News</a> <a href="/tags/arizona/" rel="tag">#Arizona</a> <a href="/tags/fraud/" rel="tag">#Fraud</a> <a href="/tags/medicaid/" rel="tag">#Medicaid</a> <a href="/tags/native/" rel="tag">#Native</a> <a href="/tags/indigenous/" rel="tag">#Indigenous</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#Addiction</a> <a href="/tags/healthcare/" rel="tag">#Healthcare</a></p>
addiction
<p>Internal VA Emails Reveal How Trump Cuts Jeopardize Veterans’ Care, Including To “Life-Saving Cancer Trials”<br>—</p><p>Despite a congressional mandate to expand care for veterans, internal Veterans Affairs messages obtained by ProPublica paint a stark portrait of how chaotic cost cutting has already imperiled tests of treatments for cancer, opioid addiction and more.</p><p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-veterans-affairs-budget-staff-cuts-jeopardize-cancer-research?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.propublica.org/article/trump-veterans-affairs-budget-staff-cuts-jeopardize-cancer-research?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.propublica.org/article/tru</span><span class="invisible">mp-veterans-affairs-budget-staff-cuts-jeopardize-cancer-research?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/news/" rel="tag">#News</a> <a href="/tags/veterans/" rel="tag">#Veterans</a> <a href="/tags/trump/" rel="tag">#Trump</a> <a href="/tags/doge/" rel="tag">#DOGE</a> <a href="/tags/health/" rel="tag">#Health</a> <a href="/tags/cancer/" rel="tag">#Cancer</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#Addiction</a> <a href="/tags/homelessness/" rel="tag">#Homelessness</a></p>
<p>Among our top stories of 2024: </p><p>Police knew she was selling fake Percocet but did not stop her. His mother sought the right treatment for his addiction but couldn’t find it. Two teens got caught up in a system unprepared to handle kids on either side of the drug trade.</p><p><a href="https://propub.li/3C3J6MV" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>propub.li/3C3J6MV</a></p><p><a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#Law</a> <a href="/tags/crime/" rel="tag">#Crime</a> <a href="/tags/teen/" rel="tag">#Teen</a> <a href="/tags/drugs/" rel="tag">#Drugs</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#Addiction</a> <a href="/tags/trauma/" rel="tag">#Trauma</a> <a href="/tags/parenting/" rel="tag">#Parenting</a> <a href="/tags/police/" rel="tag">#Police</a></p>
<p>From our magazine: Over 72 hours, Austin police reported more than 70 overdose calls. Records from Travis County, which includes most of Austin, and neighboring Williamson County indicate that as many as 12 may have died. The culprit: a bad batch of crack cocaine. <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-war-on-drug-users-austin-overdose-disaster/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.texasobserver.org/texas-war-on-drug-users-austin-overdose-disaster/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.texasobserver.org/texas-wa</span><span class="invisible">r-on-drug-users-austin-overdose-disaster/</span></a> </p><p><a href="/tags/warondrugs/" rel="tag">#WarOnDrugs</a> <a href="/tags/drugs/" rel="tag">#drugs</a> <a href="/tags/politics/" rel="tag">#politics</a> <a href="/tags/uspol/" rel="tag">#USpol</a> <a href="/tags/news/" rel="tag">#news</a> <a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#law</a> <a href="/tags/criminaljustice/" rel="tag">#CriminalJustice</a> <a href="/tags/health/" rel="tag">#health</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#addiction</a></p>
<p>Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud Response<br>—</p><p>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.</p><p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-sober-homes-deaths-medicaid-fraud?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.propublica.org/article/arizona-sober-homes-deaths-medicaid-fraud?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.propublica.org/article/ari</span><span class="invisible">zona-sober-homes-deaths-medicaid-fraud?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/news/" rel="tag">#News</a> <a href="/tags/arizona/" rel="tag">#Arizona</a> <a href="/tags/medicaid/" rel="tag">#Medicaid</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#Addiction</a> <a href="/tags/fraud/" rel="tag">#Fraud</a> <a href="/tags/indigenous/" rel="tag">#Indigenous</a> <a href="/tags/native/" rel="tag">#Native</a> <a href="/tags/nativeamerican/" rel="tag">#NativeAmerican</a></p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p><p>With all the craziness going on, please check out and share:</p><p><a href="http://www.dontcallthepolice.com" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">http://</span>www.dontcallthepolice.com</a> </p><p>It’s an online directory of local resources available as alternatives to contacting law enforcement if you need help with DV, mental health, housing, LGBTQ+ support, protecting your vote, crisis management, addiction, etc.</p><p><a href="/tags/politics/" rel="tag">#politics</a> <a href="/tags/uspol/" rel="tag">#uspol</a> <a href="/tags/ice/" rel="tag">#ice</a> <a href="/tags/police/" rel="tag">#Police</a> <a href="/tags/mentalhealth/" rel="tag">#mentalhealth</a> <a href="/tags/housing/" rel="tag">#housing</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtq/" rel="tag">#lgbtq</a> <a href="/tags/votingrights/" rel="tag">#votingrights</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#addiction</a></p>
<p>New Law Increases Oversight of Arizona Sober Living Homes<br>—</p><p>The legislation follows a ProPublica and Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting investigation on a $2 billion Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol treatment.<br><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-sober-living-homes-oversight-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.propublica.org/article/arizona-sober-living-homes-oversight-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.propublica.org/article/ari</span><span class="invisible">zona-sober-living-homes-oversight-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/news/" rel="tag">#News</a> <a href="/tags/arizona/" rel="tag">#Arizona</a> <a href="/tags/native/" rel="tag">#Native</a> <a href="/tags/indigenous/" rel="tag">#Indigenous</a> <a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#Law</a> <a href="/tags/medicaid/" rel="tag">#Medicaid</a> <a href="/tags/fraud/" rel="tag">#Fraud</a> <a href="/tags/health/" rel="tag">#Health</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#Addiction</a></p>
<p>finished watching <a href="https://neodb.social/search?r=1&q=https://neodb.social/tv/season/6LfHB1UHhNg545NRloUxNo" rel="nofollow">Loudermilk Season 3</a> <br>Addiction, disabilities, mental health, masculinity... those aren't easy themes to get right, much less when making a comedy, and this show mostly doesn't, but a few times it nails them. I liked its point about objectifying disabled people, even mentioning Stella Young's "Inspiration Porn", but most of the time it just feels wrong. There's a fine line between normalizing and trivializing, and I don't think Farrelly is the right person to navigate such heavy issues.</p><p>After finishing the last season I checked the net, expecting to read a lot of outraged people, but the outrage I'm finding is the total opposite of what I expected: it comes from asshats claiming that the show was "too woke".</p><p>Yes, let that sink in, they're saying that Loudermilk, made by a Farrelly brother, is too woke. Are we really that polarized or are the algorithms selecting only MAGA nutjobs to throw at my face? I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.</p><p><a href="/tags/tv/" rel="tag">#tv</a> <a href="/tags/loudermilk/" rel="tag">#loudermilk</a> <a href="/tags/alcohol/" rel="tag">#alcohol</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#addiction</a> <a href="/tags/ableism/" rel="tag">#ableism</a></p><p><a href="/tags/ersneodb/" rel="tag">#ERSneodb</a></p>
<p>What I’ve been reading (and listening to) this week ending 8 March 2026 <a href="https://jchyip.medium.com/what-ive-been-reading-and-listening-to-this-week-ending-8-march-2026-6ed77607b00d" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="jchyip.medium.com/what-ive-been-reading-and-listening-to-this-week-ending-8-march-2026-6ed77607b00d"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">jchyip.medium.com/what-ive-bee</span><span class="invisible">n-reading-and-listening-to-this-week-ending-8-march-2026-6ed77607b00d</span></a> <a href="/tags/poverty/" rel="tag">#poverty</a> <a href="/tags/resilience/" rel="tag">#resilience</a> <a href="/tags/management/" rel="tag">#management</a> <a href="/tags/ai/" rel="tag">#AI</a> <a href="/tags/economics/" rel="tag">#economics</a> <a href="/tags/addiction/" rel="tag">#addiction</a> <a href="/tags/climatechange/" rel="tag">#ClimateChange</a> <a href="/tags/cybersecurity/" rel="tag">#cybersecurity</a> <a href="/tags/heroes/" rel="tag">#heroes</a> <a href="/tags/depression/" rel="tag">#depression</a> <a href="/tags/product/" rel="tag">#product</a> <a href="/tags/engineering/" rel="tag">#engineering</a></p>