Lawmaker Unveils Vision for Austin State Hospital
State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, on Thursday proposed creating an "MD Anderson of the brain" on the site of the troubled Austin State Hospital. Full Story
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![The Austin State Hospital is shown on April 29, 2016. Despite an infusion of funding from lawmakers for the state’s mental health care system, Texas struggles to provide psychiatric care for all patients who need it.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Budget Writers Hear Concerns Over Medicaid Therapy Cuts
Cuts in the state's payments to therapy providers who see children with disabilities remain tied up in court, but Texas officials said Thursday they have made about $58 million in cuts from other parts of the health care budget. Full Story
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Key Texas Lawmakers Show Little Appetite for Medicaid Expansion
Comments by high-ranking Texas Republicans indicate that the state’s long-running tug-of-war with the federal government over Medicaid expansion is unlikely to change course. Full Story
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Advocates Push for Lower Child-to-Teacher Ratios at Texas Day Care Centers
State regulators have opened the public comment period on some proposed changes they hope will improve standards at day care centers around Texas. But advocates say the agency is missing one important item: better caretaker to child ratios in day cares. Full Story
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North Texas Hospitals Face $27 Million Penalty in Medicaid Dispute
Hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth region were overpaid by $27 million in federal funds to provide health care for the uninsured, according to a new order from the Obama administration, which is threatening to take the money back. Full Story
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Growing Zika Threat Prompts New Calls for Medicaid Expansion
Advocates for the uninsured are hoping the threat of Zika will spur Republican leaders to consider a massive expansion of subsidized health care to the low-income Texans they say are most vulnerable to the disease. Full Story
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![Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can transmit the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects, to humans. Officials say there have been no cases of mosquito-to-human transmission in Texas.]()
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Anti-Abortion Advocate's Group Receives Women's Health Grant
A group led by an anti-abortion advocate received $1.6 million in state funding from a program recently created to help women find health care services paid for by the state. Full Story
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![One of the six exam rooms at Haven Health Clinics in downtown Amarillo Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. The clinic provides services for women in the 26 county region of the Texas panhandle.]()
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Analysis: You Thought Your State Government Worked For You?
A lot can happen when you're distracted by presidential politics. The past week offered a few relatively local reminders of why politics matters. Full Story
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![Reserved parking places awaited voters at the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos on Feb 25, 2016.]()
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To Fight Zika, Texas Medicaid Will Pay for Mosquito Repellent
Texas officials announced on Wednesday they would allow Medicaid to pay for mosquito repellent for women in the hopes of preventing the Zika virus. Full Story
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Abbott Fundraising Off Rule to Bury or Cremate Fetal Remains
Weeks after Texas health officials quietly proposed rules that would require the cremation or burial of fetal remains, Gov. Greg Abbott is raising political funds off his administration's new effort to regulate abortion providers. Full Story
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![Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a Rotary Club of San Antonio luncheon on March 23, 2016.]()
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New Training Offers First Responders Insight on Head Trauma (Video)
A new law enforcement training course offered across the state helps officers spot the signs of a person dealing with a head injury. And in the wake of recent police shootings, officers in the course say they see it as one more tool to help them de-escalate situations. Full Story
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Texas Supreme Court Halts Children's Therapy Cuts
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday delivered a temporary, last-minute victory to the families of children with disabilities who want to stop sweeping budget cuts to a state-funded children’s therapy program. Full Story
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Texas Wants Aborted Fetuses Buried or Cremated
In a little-noticed effort to regulate abortion providers, Texas health officials have quietly proposed rules that would require abortion providers to cremate or bury all fetal remains. Full Story
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More Lawmakers Call on Texas to Postpone Therapy Cuts
With two weeks to go before Texas is set to slash a program's funding that pays for therapy services for children with disabilities, therapy providers are announcing new support from state lawmakers to postpone the cuts. Full Story
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Texas Democrats Ask Feds to Intervene on Therapy Cuts
Three weeks before Texas officials plan to slash funding for a program that pays for speech, physical and occupational therapy for children with disabilities, Democrats in the Texas House are asking the Obama administration to intervene. Full Story
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Analysis: What the Numbers in the Texas Budget Really Mean
Numbers can give you a full accounting of something without telling you what’s really going on, like when lawmakers talk about trimming budgets and saving money while diverting attention from whatever fell on the cutting room floor. Full Story
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![Lauretta Jackson, a physical therapist from Any Baby Can, works with Sara weekly to improve her body strength. Nonprofit therapy providers are worried budget cuts made by lawmakers will put them out of business.]()
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Lawsuit Won, Texas Moves to Cut Children's Therapy Programs
Texas is finally poised to move forward with budget cuts to a pediatric therapy program for children with disabilities, but opponents of the cuts have vowed to continue putting up a fight. Full Story
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In Texas, State Offers Little Help with Zika Prevention, Control
State health officials are urging Texans to protect themselves from mosquito bites — but they aren't helping counties coordinate or pay for those protective measures. Full Story
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Revisit Our Series Examining Mental Health Policy and Programs
Throughout May, the Tribune partnered with the Mental Health Channel and KLRU on a series looking at mental health policy issues and some of Texas’ biggest challenges in providing care. Use this page to catch up on our coverage. Full Story
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Suicide Prevention Efforts Focus on Small Texas Towns
Public health experts are looking more closely at the issue of suicides in small towns. Full Story
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![LaNelia Ramette holds a portrait of her son Michael in a Coppell park on May 21, 2016. Ramette lost her son to suicide in 2010 and now helps families dealing with the suicide of a loved one.]()
Credit: Laura Buckman for The Texas Tribune