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Department of State Health Services

The latest Department of State Health Services news from The Texas Tribune.

  • TribLive: A Conversation About Health Care

    By Evan Smith

    For our latest TribLive event, I talked about federal health care reform with state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities and Tom Banning of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Full Story 

    State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, at TribLive on February 23, 2011.
    Credit: Muliadi Soenaryo

  • Texas vs. "Obamacare": How the Words Stack Up

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Senate lawmakers unveiled bills today to reform how health care is paid for and how providers are held accountable for patient outcomes. Here's a look at how the wording of Texas' proposed reform legislation compares to the wording of the often-maligned federal health care reform law in Washington. Full Story 

    Texas Health Care Reform language.
    Credit: Wordle

  • Doctor Loan Repayment Deal in Jeopardy

    By Emily Ramshaw

    More than 100 Texas doctors made a deal with the state: For four years, they would practice in underserved communities and treat the neediest patients — in return for having their med school debt forgiven. But now state officials may be backing down from their side of the bargain. Full Story 

    Dr. Xavier Muñoz treats a patient in El Paso. Muñoz agreed to treat low-income, underinsured patients in return for having his medical school bill repaid — a program that could be eliminated through state budget cuts.
    Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre

  • Suehs Warns Lawmakers On Health Cuts

    By Becca Aaronson

    Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs pulled no punches when he warned Senate lawmakers today what proposed budget cuts will mean: either cutting the number of people served, or the money paid to those who care for them. Full Story 

    HHSC Commissioner Tom Suehs testifies before lawmakers.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: LBB: State Must Improve Care For Disabled

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The way Texas is currently providing care for people with disabilities — keeping all its state institutions in operation, despite increasing demand for community-based care — is not cost effective, and should be changed, according to an analysis released by the Legislative Budget Board on Wednesday. Full Story 

    Austin State-Supported Living Center employee Tamika Mays is shown with resident Rebecca Hadnot in 2011.
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • A Stiff Cocktail of Budget Cuts

    By Texas Tribune Staff

    The Texas House has unveiled a $156.4 billion budget that's $31.1 billion smaller than the current two-year spending plan — a drop of 16.6 percent. The proposed budget came with $1.2 billion in recommendations for savings and new revenue from the Legislative Budget Board. Full Story 

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  • The Hispanic Paradox

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Many of the longest lives in Texas are lived in an unlikely place: along the impoverished border with Mexico, where residents often live until age 80 and beyond. Explanations for this so-called "Hispanic Paradox" range from theories about differences in the diet, faith and family values of first-generation South Texans to suggestions that natural selection is at play in immigration patterns. Full Story 

    Endoscopy tech Dora Facturan, right, prepares Maria Perez, 65, for a colonoscopy exam from Dr. Carlos Cardenas, back left, on December 8, 2010 at the Doctor's Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg. South Texans lead some of the longest lives in the state.
    Credit: Gabe Hernandez

  • The Stroke Belt

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The proof of East Texas' live-hard, die-young culture is in the bread pudding — and the all-you-can-eat fried catfish, the drive-through tobacco barns and the doughnut shops by the dozen. In a community where heavy eating and chain smoking are a way of life, where poverty, hard-headedness and even suspicion hinder access to basic health care, residents die at an average age of 73, or seven years earlier than the longest-living Texans, according to a preliminary county-by-county analysis by the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Full Story 

    Residents of East Texas, and particularly minorities, often make lifestyle choices, like smoking and eating high-fat diets, that affect their life expectancy.
    Credit: Lawrence Jenkins