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Health And Human Services Commission

The latest Health And Human Services Commission news from The Texas Tribune.

  • 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

  • Are Payment Reform, Texas Budget In Conflict?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Lawmakers are crafting legislation to make health care more affordable and effective by rewarding doctors who get the best medical outcomes. But the cuts they're proposing to meet the state's budget shortfall could hinder some of the same physicians they're relying on to implement payment reform. Full Story 

    Odiel Rodriguez, a physician assistant, checks a patient's file at Ashley Pediatrics Day and Night Clinic in Pharr. Family practitioners fear what budget cuts will mean for the funding that keeps them in business.
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • 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

  • Managed Into the Red?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Texas hospital administrators aren't thrilled about the 10 percent Medicaid provider rate cut included in the House's proposed budget. But what they fear more is the proposed expansion of Medicaid managed care, which could force them to forgo a combined $1 billion a year in federal funding. Full Story 

    Dr. Carlos Cardenas, chairman of the board at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, performs an exam on a patient on Wednesday December 8, 2010. Many Texas hospitals like this one oppose certain aspects of the proposed expansion of Medicaid managed care.
    Credit: Gabe Hernandez

  • 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

  • TribBlog: Steady Medi(caid)

    By Becca Aaronson

    Thirteen states expanded Medicaid or CHIP eligibility last year, and 14 states made improvements in enrollment and renewal procedures. Texas didn't fall into either of these categories, but the state held steady in 2010, while making improvements in technology to prepare for the roll-out of federal health care reform. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • Diagnosis: Unconstitutional

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    A federal court's ruling on Monday declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • A "B" for Effort

    By Julie Chang

    One in 10 Asian-Americans has hepatitis B, a rate that is 20 times higher than the rest of the population — and is surely pronounced in Houston, which has the fourth-largest Asian population of any U.S. metropolitan area. But state public health officials struggle to get funding for vaccinations and outreach. Full Story 

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  • Matching Medicaid

    By Emily Ramshaw, The Texas Tribune, and Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News

    Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas has received more bad news: The portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government is about to drop. Texas’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, a mathematical formula linked to a state's per-capita personal income, will fall more than 2 percentage points in late 2011, equivalent to a $1.2 billion hit. Only two states — Louisiana and North Dakota — will face a bigger percentage drop. And that’s after federal stimulus funds that have been artificially enhancing this match dry up in the spring, another blow to cash-strapped state Medicaid programs in Texas and across the nation. Full Story 

    Patients are shown checking out in 2010 at the People's Community Clinic in Austin, a safety-net clinic that serves Medicaid recipients and the underinsured.
    Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune