Reading Time: 7 minutes Click here to read highlights from the story Recipients of FoodShare, Wisconsin’s food aid program for low-income people, may request replacement funds after power outages or other misfortunes cause food to spoil. Many recipients remain unaware of that option.  Those who are aware face what advocates call unnecessary hurdles. They include requirements in Wisconsin and most states that recipients hand-sign a verification of loss form. Such barriers may grow more consequential as climate change drives more extreme weather in Wisconsin and other states. Wisconsin pla ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Need to access or replace FoodShare benefits? You can find a list of local food assistance office locations and phone numbers on Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services website. Feeding Wisconsin’s FoodShare helpline (1-877-366-3635) can help you navigate the application process.  Below are additional resources around Wisconsin.  Southeast Wisconsin: Hunger Task Force (phone: 414-777-0483, online: hungertaskforce.org) can assist in filing replacement forms at three locations across Milwaukee. It also provides kiosks with phones, printers and computers for SN ..read more

Reading Time: 6 minutes This story was originally published by The 19th. A new study suggests that lead inspection and removal regulations for public housing have been effective over time, reducing the risk of lead exposure for residents. After decades of high lead levels in its housing stock, it’s a sliver of hope for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that remediation and safety efforts are working. Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Tufts Medical Center used measurements from HUD and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Su ..read more

Reading Time: 3 minutes Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup. Assisted living can offer residents more independence and a less institutionalized setting than in traditional nursing homes, making them more popular with Wisconsin seniors. Another difference? Fewer protections for Medicaid recipients. Federal law bans nursing homes from ousting residents for reasons related to a Medicaid transition — if the facility accepted Medicaid when they moved in. That’s not the case in ass ..read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes News414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service here. The multibillion-dollar VineBrook Homes Trust Inc. made its way into Milwaukee in 2019 and now owns about 1,000 single-family homes, primarily on the city’s North Side. As the Texas-based company buys up homes on Milwaukee’s North Side, some residents ..read more

Reading Time: 10 minutes Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup. Click here to read highlights from the story Here are highlights from the story:  Each year, at least 25 women in Wisconsin die within a year of giving birth, oftentimes from suicide and drug overdose. Advocates have been calling for years to extend Wisconsin’s Medicaid coverage to help save lives. Wisconsin’s Medicaid coverage drops off after 60 days from 306% of the federal poverty level to 100%. Wisconsin’s inc ..read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes News414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service here. Milwaukee County has the highest rates of diabetes in the state, according to Health Compass Milwaukee, which provides health-related data about Milwaukee County residents and communities. The percentage of adults in Milwaukee County diagnosed with dia ..read more

Reading Time: 11 minutes News414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service here. Click here to read highlights from the story Landlords outside of historically disinvested neighborhoods rarely rent to people who rely on Section 8 vouchers. Milwaukee County in 2018 banned landlords from categorically rejecting recipients of housin ..read more

Reading Time: 9 minutes News414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service here. Click here to read highlights from the story Studies have long ranked the Milwaukee metropolitan area the worst place to live if you’re Black, citing dramatic racial disparities in incarceration, income and educational achievement and a legacy of redl ..read more

Reading Time: 5 minutes KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF, an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Learn more about KFF. In 2016, Richard Timmins went to a free informational seminar to learn more about Medicare coverage. “I listened to the insurance agent and, basically, he really promoted Medicare Advantage,” Timmins said. The agent described less expensive and broader coverage offered by the plans, which are funded largely by the government b ..read more