Last week Houston physician Steve Hotze, a major Republican campaign donor, announced he was suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act. This week, he's singing a similar tune — literally.

In the waning days of budget negotiations, medical providers are pushing lawmakers to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates that were chopped two years ago.

UPDATED: With the prospect of Medicaid expansion on life support, protesters gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday to urge state leadership to expand coverage to poor adults, and state Democrats announced that they’re still searching for a legislative vehicle to expand coverage. 

UPDATED: The Supreme Court’s ruling that penalties under the Affordable Care Act qualify as taxes has opened the door to another constitutional challenge, Houston physician and Republican donor Steve Hotze said Tuesday. And he's filing suit. 

UPDATED: Officials from more than a dozen hospital systems will gather at the Capitol with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Friday to try to iron out a solution to how they are reimbursed for uncompensated care. 

At the Trib's April 25 symposium on health care at the University of Texas at Austin, Becca Aaronson talked about federal health reform with state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, John Davidson of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities and former deputy comptroller Billy Hamilton.

At our 4/26 Hot Seat conversation at Southwestern University in Georgetown, state Rep. Marsha Farney, R-Georgetown, and state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, talked about public education, water, the budget and other issues in play in the 83rd session.

The Texas Association of Businesses — a heavyweight in conservative lobbying circles — has endorsed state Rep. John Zerwas’ proposal to negotiate with the federal government to find a palatable way to expand health insurance coverage.

Despite opposition from conservative Republicans, the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday advanced a proposal that would reform Medicaid by allowing the state to request a block grant from the federal government and expand coverage to low-income Texans.

Amid hours of testimony from advocates in support of Medicaid expansion on Tuesday, state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, described his proposal for an alternative program to provide health coverage for the poor and uninsured.

Nearly 2.6 million Texans could qualify for tax credits to purchase health insurance in 2014, according to a report released Thursday by a nonprofit advocacy group.

Republican legislators who want to use federal Medicaid expansion dollars are struggling to find common ground between the Perry administration in Texas and the Obama administration in Washington. But they're trying.

UPDATED: Hours after quietly approving a budget amendment on Thursday that would have opened the door to negotiations on expanding Medicaid, the House reconsidered the measure, prompting the author to withdraw it.

UPDATED: Rep. John Zerwas confirmed Wednesday that he will incorporate into his own Medicaid reform bill a proposal by Sen. Tommy Williams to use premium tax revenue to subsidize private health policies for the uninsured.

Expanding Medicaid in Texas would weaken it, and weakening Medicaid would be a disservice to the Texans who now depend on it.

UPDATED: U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, and his twin, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, will hold their own event at the Capitol on Monday to promote the Medicaid expansion provision of federal health reform.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report on Wednesday detailing how Texas could use a block grant from the federal government to cut costs and fundamentally reform Medicaid.

Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday called the Medicaid expansion piece of federal health reform “fiscal coercion,” and blamed conservatives who have embraced it for folding "in the face of federal bribery and mounting pressure.”