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.
Health And Human Services Commission
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Health care
A Tale of Two States
Residents of Hidalgo and other nearby counties live to be 80 years old, two years longer than the Texas average. Meanwhile, in parts of East Texas, residents live much shorter lives.
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Health care
The Hispanic Paradox
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.
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Health care
TribBlog: Steady Medi(caid)
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.
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Health care
Teen Birth Rate Still Higher in Texas
A new report shows U.S. teen birth rates at an all-time low, but Texas still records some of the highest rates in the country. Matt Largey of KUT News reports.
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State Government
TribBlog: Nursing Home Segregation?
Disability rights advocates will file a class-action lawsuit on Monday, alleging that Texas leaders have violated the Americans with Disabiltiies Act by confining some 4,500 Texans with disabilities in nursing homes.
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Criminal Justice
Audio: Abbott on Health Reform Ruling
The Virginia court ruling 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.
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Criminal Justice
Diagnosis: Unconstitutional
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.
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Health care
A “B” for Effort
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.
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Health care
Matching Medicaid
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.
