The latest Health And Human Services Commission news from The Texas Tribune.
Between courts and scandals, football and storms, rats of the literal and figurative varieties, state leaders have lately been forced to react to outside events instead of using their offices to set their own agendas. Full Story
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Texas’ rolls of cash assistance recipients under its TANF program have steadily shrunk over the last two decades. Some experts say the bureaucracy guarding the state’s safety net makes it difficult to access those benefits, even for Texans who fit the requirements. Full Story
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The infestation of Norwegian rats in a state building where health regulators work is not only a big, embarrassing mess — it's a metaphor for a persistent problem in Texas government. Full Story
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Texas is pushing the federal government for temporary funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program while Congress fights over a permanent solution. Full Story
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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a $60,000 vermin problem, and is hiring private exterminators to deal with an estimated "several hundred" sewer rats in the building. Full Story
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A number of Texas day care centers are in rough shape after Hurricane Harvey, adding one more challenge for parents trying to get back home and find work — they're unable to find a safe place to leave their children. Full Story
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The Texas Legislature's budget for the next two years includes $20 million more in funding for a controversial state program that seeks to discourage women from getting abortions in the state. Full Story
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A new law will require insurance companies to cover 3-D mammograms for Texas patients. The advanced screening technology allows for early detection of cancer and reduces false positives. Full Story
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Dozens of experienced senior staff members have left Texas' health and human services agency, saying morale has sunk under the new executive director, and critics say it's hampered the state's ability to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey. Full Story
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Food banks, pantries and other food access advocates are bracing for increased need in communities that struggled with food insecurity even before Hurricane Harvey — and planning how to meet needs in the months of recovery still ahead. Full Story
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Therapists who work with disabled children in their homes saw a glimmer of hope this year, when Texas lawmakers decided to restore some of the funds they cut for such services in 2015. It was short-lived. Full Story
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The Heidi Group, an anti-abortion organization, is losing $4.1 million in state funding to offer reproductive health services for women after failing to serve as many patients as it thought it could. Full Story
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House lawmakers tentatively approved a series of bills Monday aimed at helping Texas curb its unusually high rate of women dying less than a year after childbirth. Full Story
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The University of Texas Medical Branch and Hill Country MHDD Centers have put the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on notice that they’re ending services through the Early Childhood Intervention program. Full Story
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The House grudgingly voted to accept the Senate's supplemental budget proposal, which would not restore funding for disabled children's therapy services. Full Story
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Both chambers passed bills on Tuesday aimed at curbing postpartum depression and the alarming rise in Texas mothers dying less than a year after giving birth. Full Story
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With a Republican president in the White House, Texas health officials are seeking to restore federal family planning funding they gave up under the Obama administration to take a stand against Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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Stuart Bowen, inspector general for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, resigned amid revelations that he was moonlighting for a private firm that provided services for the government of Iraq. Full Story
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Easter Seals East Texas officials have put the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on notice they are ending services for 230 children in the Brazos Valley area on Aug. 31. Full Story
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Both Republican and Democratic members of a key legislative oversight committee unloaded on Gov. Greg Abbott’s top health appointee Thursday, putting him and others on the hot seat for hours about alleged contracting abuses. Full Story