Rep. Lois Kolkhorst threw herself a life raft tonight, attaching her Health Care Compact bill โ a measure that would seek to give Texas control of the purse strings for Medicare and Medicaid โ onto a Senate health care bill that the House passed on third reading.
Lois Kolkhorst
Kolkhorst Holding Nelson’s Health Bill Hostage
Rep. Lois Kolkhorst is holding Sen. Jane Nelson’s health reform bill hostage.
State Efforts to Take Control of Medicaid Struggling
Texasโ efforts to take control over Medicaid, the joint state-federal health care program for poor children and the disabled, could be in trouble.
Texas House Gives Smoking Ban Early OK
The Texas House tentatively approved a statewide ban on smoking in public places tonight, adding the measure onto another bill that must pass in order to make the two-year state budget balance.
House Gives First OK to Medicaid Waiver Plan
House lawmakers have given an early okay to Rep. Lois Kolkhorstโs bill to ask Washington for a block grant to run Medicaid โ the joint state-federal health care program for children, the disabled and the very poor โ as Texas sees fit.
Patient Privacy Bill Gets Early House Approval
House lawmakers have given an early endorsement to Rep. Lois Kolkhorstโs bill to protect Texansโ private medical information.
Has Patient Privacy Bill Hit a Snag?
State Rep. Lois Kolkhorstโs bill to further protect Texansโ private medical information looks stuck; itโs been three weeks since it passed out of committee, and it hasnโt yet been set for a House vote.
From Texas to D.C., Debate Over Medicaid Funding Rages
If congressional Republicans’ proposed solution to cutting health care costs โ giving states block grants to fund Medicaid โ sounds familiar, itโs because it is.
Some Dentists Bad-Mouth Anti-Cavity Bill
Some pediatric dentists are bad-mouthing a bill that would allow mobile dental clinics to be paid by Medicaid for sealing the teeth of low-income kids at school.
Leo Linbeck III: The TT Interview
The Houston builder and Health Care Compact Alliance vice chair on how an interstate compact could fix health care in Texas โ and give the state some semblance of local control over what he calls an unsustainable health care system.

