An investigation by The Center Square just triggered a congressional inquiry.
The Center Square examined how Washington state's Medicaid spending grew from $7.85 billion in the 2013-15 biennium to a projected $42 billion in the 2025-27 biennium, while enrollment climbed from about 1.3 million residents to more than 2 million. Reporter TJ Martinell followed those dollars and asked the question taxpayers deserve to have answered: who covers the cost as federal funding changes?
On March 3, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce cited our reporting in a formal letter to Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, opening an oversight inquiry into potential fraud, waste, and abuse in the state's Medicaid program. The committee used our work to document a budget that had quintupled in roughly a decade.
That is accountability journalism doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.
This is the kind of reporting your support makes possible. While other outlets moved on to the next headline, our team stayed with the story — following the money, tracing long-term spending trends, and connecting the dots on how billions in taxpayer dollars are really being spent. The result? Lawmakers in Washington now face questions they can't dodge. That's accountability journalism in action, and it doesn't happen without you.
That work reaches taxpayers across the country, and the people who spend their money have to respond.
There is more in the pipeline. Will you support the next investigation by making a gift today?
Thank you for standing with us. None of this happens without you.