Root’s scoop on Rick Perry’s working retirement, Aaronson maps poverty in Texas, Aguilar on a voting rights warning shot from the U.S. Attorney General, Galbraith on the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking operations, Grissom on the drop in executions, Hamilton and M. Smith on UT-Austin President Bill Powers’ rough year, Murphy and Tan and Dehn on the shortage of psychiatrists and Ramshaw on the federal refusal to exclude operators like Planned Parenthood from family planning programs: The best of our best content from December 12 to 16, 2011.
Medicaid
Posted in
Health care
Move to Managed Care Comes With Strings Attached
The federal government has granted Texas permission to move almost all of its Medicaid patients into managed care in an effort to save money. But as Carrie Feibel of KUHF News reports, hospitals will now have to do more to show how they spend — and prove they deserve — state money.
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Health care
Was Federal Ruling a Win or a Loss for Family Planning Providers?
The federal government’s rejection this week of a state request to exclude certain providers — namely Planned Parenthood — from the Women’s Health Program came as a victory to some family planning advocates, and a travesty to others.
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Economy
Combs: State Revenues Higher Than Expected
The state’s finances are in better shape than previously believed, the state comptroller said Monday, with a new projection showing $1.6 billion more than lawmakers expected, even after the state covers part of the its Medicaid shortfall and restores some cuts to state agencies and universities.
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Health care
Feds Approve One Health Waiver, Reject Another
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has turned down Texas’ request to run a family planning program that excludes some providers — namely Planned Parenthood. But it approved Texas’ request for a waiver to expand Medicaid managed care.
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Health care
Looming Medicaid Payment Cuts Worry Therapy Providers
Some cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates will take effect on Jan. 1, putting Texas’ Medicaid spending on par with that of many other states. But as Jessica Mahoney of KUT News reports, providers of physical, occupational and speech therapy worry many could be left without services.
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Health care
TribLive: Castro on Health Reform, Taxing the Rich
At Thursday’s TribLive conversation, state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, offered his take on issues he’d face if elected to Congress next year, including same-sex marriage, Afghanistan, taxing the rich and health reform.
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Health care
Drug Company Payments to Doctors Raise Concerns of Conflicting Interests
Thousands of Texas doctors, researchers and medical experts — including more than 100 who are employed by the state and are paid with taxpayer dollars — routinely supplement their salaries with income from pharmaceutical companies.
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Health care
Study: Texas Ranks Last in Mental Health Spending
Despite an increase in state spending on mental health care, Texas still ranks last in per capita funding for people with mental illness, according to a report issued by the National Alliance of Mental Illness.
Posted in
Health care
Lawsuit Gives Cover to Texas Lawmakers
Judges have been telling legislators what to do since we set up government to replace knife fights and bar brawls. And legislators use the courts to make them do unpopular but necessary things that voters don’t like. School finance, for instance.
