Maya Miller
I’m a reporter at ProPublica working on community-sourced investigations.
Have a Tip for a Story?
If you have been through an experience that you think should be investigated, don’t hesitate to reach out. Documents, photos or videos can be especially helpful for me to review when reporting out a story.
What I Cover
I’m an investigative reporter who works with communities to uncover what’s really going on behind their experiences. I mostly cover issues and stories related to health and the environment. I speak and can report in Spanish.
My Background
Since joining ProPublica in 2019, I have reported on the health impacts of air quality and the ins and outs of the health insurance industry, examined aggressive medical debt collection practices, and investigated evictions and cities’ approaches to homelessness. I’ve worked with residents to monitor air quality and to collect real-time reactions to air pollution, and I’ve worked with patients to crowdsource health insurance denials and medical bills.
The impact of this journalism includes state lawmakers introducing bills to address health insurance denials and evictions that can lead to criminal chargers, companies changing course on medical debt collection practices, health insurance denials and air quality controls, and federal regulators launching investigations.
This work, done in collaboration with colleagues, has been recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist and honored with multiple Gather Awards in Engaged Journalism and Gerald Loeb Awards, among others.
Her Mental Health Treatment Was Helping. That’s Why Insurance Cut Off Her Coverage.
Providers, patients and even some federal judges say progress-based insurance denials harm patients at key moments of mental health treatment.
Find Out Why Your Health Insurer Denied Your Claim
You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s free tool to generate a letter requesting your claim file from your health insurance company.
When Home Is a Toxic Hot Spot
More than a thousand people talked to ProPublica about living in hot spots for cancer-causing air pollution. Most never got a warning from the EPA. They are rallying neighbors, packing civic meetings and signing petitions for reform.
The Smoke Comes Every Year. Sugar Companies Say the Air Is Safe.
To harvest more than half of America’s cane sugar, billion-dollar companies set fire to fields, a money-saving practice that’s being banned by other countries.
Local Reporting Network
Want to Report on Homelessness? Here’s What Our Sources Taught Us About Engaging Responsibly.
Homelessness is at a record high, and there are many investigative stories to tell. We’ve compiled some of the tips and lessons we learned from our sources for other reporters pursuing this coverage.
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.
Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts
In dozens of cases ProPublica reviewed, judges found that some doctors working for these companies engaged in “selective readings” of medical evidence and “shut their eyes” to medical opinions opposing their conclusions.
“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps
Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so they could explain what they lost in their own words.
Cities Say They Store Property Taken From Homeless Encampments. People Rarely Get Their Things Back.
Storage programs are meant to protect people’s property rights and allow them to reclaim their possessions. But they rarely accomplish either objective, according to a ProPublica investigation of cities with the largest homeless populations.
How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk
United used an algorithm system to identify patients who it determined were getting too much therapy and then limited coverage. It was deemed illegal in three states, but similar practices persist due to a patchwork of regulation.
Swept Away
From birth certificates to loved ones’ ashes, these are just some of the belongings cities take when they clear homeless encampments.
New Biden Administration Rules Aim to Hold Insurers Accountable for Mental Health Care Coverage
The regulations will force health insurance plans to collect and report more data on how they limit and deny mental health claims. ProPublica’s reporting has found that insurers regularly shortchange patients seeking treatment.
What Mental Health Care Protections Exist in Your State?
Insurers have wide latitude on when and how they can deny mental health care. We looked at the laws in all 50 states and found that some are charting new paths to secure mental health care access.
Why It’s So Hard to Find a Therapist Who Takes Insurance
Those who need therapy often have to pay out of pocket or go without care, even if they have health insurance. Hundreds of mental health providers told us they fled networks because insurers made their jobs impossible and their lives miserable.