The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
State Rep. Stuart Spitzer is afraid the federal government can use medical records to identify gun owners. Over the objections of the medical community, he has filed a bill that would prohibit doctors from asking patients whether they own a firearm. Full Story
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The Senate's proposed changes to the state's breast and cervical cancer screening program — intended to cut funding for Planned Parenthood clinics — could hit low-income women in rural and West Texas hardest. Use our map to see how. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: How healthy lifestyles lead to a healthier brain, a big milestone in Liberia's fight on Ebola and an interview with Belinda Reininger of the University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus. Full Story
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Three years ago, the office responsible for rooting out Medicaid fraud and abuse set a goal of finding $1 billion a year in misspent funds. But it's collecting about $995 million less than that. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune's five-part Undrinkable series looks at border communities that lack reliable, clean water despite a multibillion-dollar effort that has spanned decades. Full Story
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Lawmakers have filed two competing bills about who should have the authority to decide whether to terminate a brain-dead pregnant woman's life — a preview of what promises to be a fiery legislative battle over end-of-life medical care in Texas. Full Story
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From our Undrinkable series: most Rio Bravo and El Cenizo residents don't trust the tap water despite a treatment plant intended to better the two towns' standard of living. Full Story
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In theory, clean, safe water should be flowing to all of Rio Grande City's 14,000 residents, but a long-standing arrangement with a handful of locally owned corporations keeps it from some parts of town. This is part of our five-story Undrinkable series. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers consider different approaches to transforming the state's unwieldy, loophole-ridden system of contract oversight into something that can be properly tracked, analyzed and, when needed, restrained. Full Story
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State Rep. Sarah Davis on Tuesday warned that proposed changes to a women's health program — intended to gut funding for Planned Parenthood clinics — would put women's lives in danger. Full Story
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The Texas A&M Health Science Center is asking state lawmakers for $2 million to start a first-of-its-kind degree program that would train forensic nurses in treating patients and gathering evidence in suspected sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and other cases. Full Story
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Safe running water remains out of reach for the residents of Las Pampas. The residents of this remote West Texas colonia are forced to haul water from miles away. This is part of our five-story Undrinkable series on border communities that lack reliable, clean water. Full Story
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Researchers have found that the water supply in Vinton is making people sick, but local politics have gotten in the way of a solution to connect to nearby El Paso's utilities. This is part two of our five-story Undrinkable series on border communities that lack reliable, clean water. Full Story
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Reliable access to clean drinking water is not a reality for tens of thousands of Texans living along the Mexican border, despite a multibillion-dollar effort that has spanned decades. Those left behind face third-world conditions and grave health risks. Full Story
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In the Roundup: The Texas Senate passed its first legislation this week, state Republican leaders again addressed Medicaid expansion and reforms, and new bills aim to preserve the federal health subsidies in question in a U.S. Supreme Court case. Full Story
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GOP lawmakers, in their effort to put Planned Parenthood out of business, could change how they fund a cancer screening program for poor women. But private clinics unaffiliated with Planned Parenthood say they'd take a hit, too. Full Story
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In 2013, 1.3 million Texas households received food stamps — up from 505,968 in 2000, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Full Story
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Personal attendants help the elderly and disabled with daily tasks ranging from rising and eating to bathing and going to the bathroom. For that, the state pays them about $8 an hour. Gov. Greg Abbott and some fiscal conservatives want to raise their wages. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: Changes ahead for medical schools, most parents favor vaccines for preventable diseases and an interview with Bruce Meyer, executive vice president for health system affairs at UT Southwestern. Full Story
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In a House committee hearing on Monday, one witness sought to redefine the climate change debate as one with clear implications to national security. Full Story
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