Anna Claire Vollers

Have you or someone you know had SNAP (food stamps) benefits stolen? I'd love to talk with you for a story I'm working on, about what states are doing to address SNAP fraud. You can reach me at avollers@stateline.org

Some folks worry that ICE’s use of Medicaid data will cause widespread fear among immigrant families, keeping them from seeking the health care that states have said they’re eligible to receive. My latest:

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google.

My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!

go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

I hate this with the power of a thousand suns

Via Anna Claire Vollers and Stateline: A Medicare pilot program will allow private companies to use artificial intelligence to review older Americans’ requests for certain medical care — and will reward the companies when they deny it. https://ow.ly/P4GV50XBPak

Jealous. I’ve wanted to see a show at that venue, it looks so cool. And the dinner sounds amazing.

Miscarriages, infections, neglect: The pregnant women detained by ICE Until last year, Congress required reports on the pregnant, postpartum or nursing women in ICE custody, including ‘detailed justification’ for their detention. This requirement no longer exists, Kelly...

(1/4) ICE detention has become a black box. Oversight has been gutted. Families are being separated. Pregnant and postpartum women report starving in custody, freezing cells, invasive procedures, miscarriages, and their pleas for help going unanswered.

Call for sources: I'm looking to interview folks who've sought health care at crisis pregnancy centers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and want to talk about their experience. The center can be located anywhere. If you or someone you know might be interested, please email or send me a DM.

My latest, in which patients’ robots fight insurers’ robots over whether human care is covered 🙃

Via Anna Claire Vollers & Stateline: The Trump administration wants states to police their own education of students with disabilities, a move many teachers and parents fear will strip crucial federal oversight and deny vulnerable children services guaranteed under law. https://ow.ly/Kuok50XmsUI

I don't live anywhere near Idaho but I'll read anything @pfannyyy.bsky.social writes. This is a great look at how state and federal policies converge in a one-two-three-four punch to a state's entire health care system.

'I got in!' Direct Admission gives high school seniors a new kind of hope BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – At B.C. Rain High School in Mobile, the news didn’t come all at once. Students trickled into the counselors’ office to say the words counselors Niki Dailey and Demetria Smith will n...

I love this: Every senior at an Alabama high school applied for college through a new program. The result: A record $31.7 million in scholarships at a school that's traditionally had a low rate of kids going to college. Via the must-read @trishcrain.bsky.social aldailynews.com/i-got-in-dir...

Really good piece here from @acvollers.bsky.social. Medicaid is foundational to health care in Alabama, particularly for children. When it’s limited or restrained, it’s usually children who suffer.

My latest:

Paging Sir Charles 🐅

#NoKings event in Fairhope, Al.
A woman was arrested for "lewd conduct" because she was dressed in penis suit with a sign that said "No dick-tator"
3 cops on a 53 yo woman.

Reporter tip from Vollers: Don’t stop at “coverage exists.” Ask providers what #Medicaid actually pays. Reimbursement levels determine whether #postpartum mental-health visits happen at all & cuts to some groups ripple through whole families. #Journalism #MaternalHealth

Deaths prompt state lawmakers to consider new hyperbaric oxygen therapy rules • Stateline The deaths of two people, one of them a child, have thrown a spotlight on the largely unregulated world of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

From @acvollers.bsky.social: Two deaths by fire this year have thrown a spotlight on the largely unregulated world of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

stateline.org/2025/09/15/d...

Rural hospitals often scrap labor and delivery services after mergers, study finds | Alabama Reflector Rural hospitals are less likely to offer obstetric services after they’ve been acquired by a larger health system, leading to mixed outcomes for mothers and babies, according to new research.

Via @acvollers.bsky.social and @stateline.org: Rural hospitals are less likely to offer obstetric services after they’ve been acquired by a larger health system, leading to mixed outcomes for mothers and babies, according to new research.

Incredible reporting from my colleague Alex Brown on the ICE raid at an active wildfire, and the firefighters who are convinced it was a trap.

As Republicans spar over IVF, some turn to obscure MAHA-backed alternative • Stateline In statehouses around the nation, in vitro fertilization has emerged as a dividing line running through the Republican Party.

From @acvollers.bsky.social: Republican support for in vitro fertilization, after surging in the wake of a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court decision that threatened the procedure, may be splintering as President Donald Trump retreats from his IVF promises.

stateline.org/2025/08/25/a...

Two different people (state legislative aide and a university prof) addressed me as “Anne” in response emails this morning. Like…my real name is right there in the signature of my initial email. I don’t expect strangers to get my double name but you’d think they’d at least get “Anna” correct.

When hospitals buy physician practices, prices go up • Stateline As more hospitals have gobbled up private physician practices, costs for childbirth and other services have gone up, according to a new study. Since the early aughts, the share of physicians in the Un...

As more hospitals have gobbled up private physician practices, costs for childbirth and other services have gone up, according to a new study.

@acvollers.bsky.social reports:
stateline.org/2025/08/05/w...

When hospitals buy physician practices, prices go up • SC Daily Gazette As fewer doctors work in physician-owned practices, patients or their insurers end up paying more, according to a new study.

When hospitals buy physician practices, prices go up scdailygazette.com/2025/08/06/w... by @stateline.org's @acvollers.bsky.social

Medicaid cuts could be devastating for the Delta and the rest of rural America • Stateline Many people in the Delta region of the Deep South say Medicaid work requirements and other health care provisions in the "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill ignore the reality of living in poorer r...

Over 11.8M could lose #healthcare as Trump's #bigbeautifulbill would cut $1T from Medicaid over the next decade. People in the Delta say – national leaders are completely out of touch with the reality of what it’s like to live in rural America. @statesnewsroom.com stateline.org/2025/07/03/m...

‘A purpose in this world’: Older adults fear elimination of program that helps them find work

In his budget for the coming fiscal year, President Donald Trump has recommended eliminating some programs that fall under the Older Americans Act, a landmark 1965 law that provides social and meal services for older people, reports @acvollers.bsky.social‬.

‘A purpose in this world’: Older adults fear elimination of program that helps them find work • Stateline Congress is considering axing the funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which provides paid part-time work at local nonprofits and government agencies for people 55 and older wi...

Congress is considering axing the funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which provides paid part-time work at local nonprofits and government agencies for people 55 and older with low incomes.

@acvollers.bsky.social reports:

stateline.org/2025/06/23/a...

‘Expensive and complicated’: Most rural hospitals no longer deliver babies • Kansas Reflector In rural counties, the loss of hospital-based obstetric care is associated with increases in births in hospital emergency rooms, less prenatal care and higher rates of babies being born too early

‘Expensive and complicated’: Most rural hospitals no longer deliver babies | #ksleg via @acvollers.bsky.social kansasreflector.com/2025/06/15/e...