Free COVID-19 tests and updated vaccines as the cold season approaches
As COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths rise slightly across the nation, here’s how you can get more at-home tests and the updated vaccine for free. Full Story
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![Take home COVID-19 self-testing kits provided by the District of Columbia government, which provides city residents four free take-home tests per day, in this illustration on Jan. 11, 2022.]()
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Laws have changed around parking for disabled Texans over the years. Here’s how it looks today.
How have new laws changed accessible parking? How are violations enforced? Here’s what you need to know about parking for people with disabilities. Full Story
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![A car with a disabled veteran license plate sits parked in a disabled parking zone outside the Capitol Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 in Austin.]()
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo extends mental health leave
The county’s top elected official will be discharged from a mental health facility this weekend and plans to return to work on Oct. 2 after two weeks of outpatient therapy. Full Story
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![Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo greets attendees during a Get Out the Vote Rally hosted by the Asian American Democrats of Texas in Asiatown on October 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Briana Vargas for The Texas Tribune -
The percentage of uninsured Texans in 2022 dropped to the lowest in a decade
Texas is still the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, at nearly 17 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey released Thursday. Full Story
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![Dr. Spencer R. Berthelsen, M.D., Chairman, Board of Directors at Kelsey-Seybold, who still sees patients two days a week, visits with patient Francisco Garcia (also a doctor at Kelsey Seybold) before his annual physical at their clinic in Sugar Land. Sept. 22, 2011.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Deborah Birx, former COVID-19 White House adviser, to join Texas Tech’s health center
Birx served in the Trump administration, helping states navigate COVID-19. Her work in public health largely focused on HIV and AIDS. Full Story
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![White House Coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Vice President Mike Pence during a daily coronavirus response briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 27, 2020.]()
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‘An epidemic’: Syphilis rages through Texas, causing newborn cases to climb amid treatment shortage
Syphilis rates in Texas continue to climb, alarming healthcare workers who see the highest increases among pregnant people and newborns. A shortage of treatment is complicating efforts to combat it. Full Story
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![An HIV/STI testing and treatment van in Philadelphia, PA, on Dec. 14, 2022.]()
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Texas parents who care for their disabled children full time will lose money after pay raise
Texas Medicaid caregivers’ wages were already near the poverty level. But parents whose sole income came from taking care of their disabled children have now lost their ability to work overtime hours. Full Story
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![Laurie Sharp talks with her daughter, Logan Sharp, in the living room of their Pflugerville home on Sep. 9. 2023. Logan's feeding tube runs in the foreground, which she requires to eat.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas highways are the next anti-abortion target. One town is resisting.
Even in conservative corners of Texas, efforts to crack down on abortion travel are meeting resistance with some local officials who support Texas’s strict abortion laws, expressing concern that the efforts go too far. Full Story
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![Cars pass by the the Llano County Courthouse on Monday, Dec. 14, 2021 in Llano, TX. The Commissioners Court for Llano County voted to close the public library to "inventory and catalog" their books after community pushback related to books that some deemed offensive. The pushback also led to a decision to immediately shut down an online library of thousands of books out of fears that children could access material not appropriate for children.]()
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New Texas law increases hospital notice before removing patients from life support
Medical professionals now must tell families 25 days in advance before ending care. Some groups wish the state gave families even more power when they disagree with a doctor’s prognosis. Full Story
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![Healthcare workers work in the COVID-19 care unit of the Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant on Aug. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Dangers and deaths around Black pregnancies in Texas seen as a “completely preventable” health crisis
Despite a vast array of health resources, Black infants in Harris County are about twice as likely to die before their first birthday as those from other racial groups. Full Story
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![Tonjanic Hill lost a 2017 pregnancy at 19 weeks. Two years later, she was pregnant again with twins. This time, she was on bed rest for months and had to have an emergency cesarean section at 34 weeks. The twins, though premature, are now preschoolers.]()
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Texas can now apply to import lower-priced Canadian medications
Texas joins a handful of states turn to the north for cheaper drugs. But feds have been slow to approve requests, three years after giving initial OK. Full Story
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![Prescription drugs on shelves at ScriptCo on Apr. 13, 2022.]()
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Texas ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids will go into effect despite legal fight
The state attorney general’s office appealed a state district court injunction that said the new prohibitions deprive trans kids of “necessary, safe, and effective medical treatment.” Full Story
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![A transgender flag sits on the desk of state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, D-Houston, and Rep. Rhetta Andrews Bowers, D-Rowlett, during discussion of a Point of Order brought against SB 14, which seeks to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth, on the House floor at the state Capitol in Austin on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
This new law will help health care workers save lives in ambulances that cover wide-open West Texas
The emerging technology, paid for by a grant established during the 2023 legislative session, will help emergency health care workers talk with doctors in emergency rooms to better care for critical patients. Full Story
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![An ambulance is parked at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
at Austin in 2018.]()
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Will Texas’ new fentanyl awareness curriculum for public schools succeed where other anti-drug messaging failed?
Historically, anti-drug messaging in schools has failed to acknowledge the mental health reasons that youth self-medicate. Without that key lesson, advocates worry House Bill 3908 will be another D.A.R.E. campaign. Full Story
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![High school students walk to their next class after the bell rings at Elsik Ninth Grade Center in Houston on March 28, 2018.]()
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For deaf children in Texas foster care, limited accessibility compounds trauma
Advocates say better accounting of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the state’s care and better access to translators are needed. Full Story
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![A sign for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
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Appeals court rules abortion pill can remain on market with restrictions
But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled it was unlawful for the FDA to allow mifepristone to be taken later in pregnancy, be mailed directly to patients and be prescribed by a medical professional other than a doctor. Full Story
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![SCOTUS, Washington, DC - Demonstrators march to the Capitol Reflection Pool as Women’s March leads a protest against federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s ruling at imposing a national ban on mifepristone at the Supreme Court of the United States on Saturday, April 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas parents see their own health spiral when kids’ mental illnesses worsen
The stress of locating and maintaining regular care for a mentally ill child can take a toll on their caretakers’ well-being. Full Story
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![Brandon Masters at his home in San Antonio. Masters spent about $22,000 last year caring for his teenage son Braylon, who has bipolar disorder. When Masters developed a rash on the back of his arms and neck last year, his doctor told him it was connected to stress.]()
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Legal fight over Texas law banning transgender health care for youth centers on whether treatments help or hurt
Texas families and health care providers sued the state over Senate Bill 14, which restricts transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care. The groups are requesting an injunction from a state district court judge before the law goes into effect on Sept. 1. Full Story
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![Laura’s son holds his Pride flag at Discovery Green in downtown Houston on Sunday, June 25, 2023.]()
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Even after Planned Parenthood stopped performing abortions, Texas is still trying to shut it down
Planned Parenthood has managed to stay open in Texas despite the state’s best efforts to shut it down. But a lawsuit in front of a conservative judge poses an existential threat. Full Story
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![AUSTIN, TX - AUGUST 8: Dr. Amna Dermish, chief operating and medical services officer at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas poses for a portrait in an exam room in the Planned Parenthood offices in Austin, Texas on August 8, 2023. (Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
University of Texas at Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center will partner to create a new $2.5 billion hospital
The new medical facility, to be located in downtown Austin, will help expand the University of Texas System’s reputed cancer center outside of the Houston area. Full Story
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![The Erwin Center in Austin on Aug 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Dell Medical School/ADRIA JOHNSON