The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
A recommendation from the state's Sunset Advisory Commission to shutter six of Texas' 13 state-supported living centers has reopened a giant divide in the disability community that had seemed to narrow in recent years. Full Story
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As some open-carry activists look to take their long-gun-brandishing demonstrations outside the state GOP convention in Fort Worth, the movement's efforts are catching criticism from a pair of unlikely sources — the nation's largest gun-rights group and a state legislator who has pushed open-carry legislation. Full Story
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The GOP state convention kicks off this week in Fort Worth with some folks urging attendees to take their guns to town. Full Story
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Attorney General Greg Abbott reversed himself Thursday on whether the Texas prison system can withhold information about companies that make drugs used by the state in executions. Full Story
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Will Texas buck the larger national trend in Republican politics and go in deeper with support of Tea Party candidates and causes? Full Story
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A new treatment for hepatitis C is considered a breakthrough for people with the liver disease. But the high cost of the drug has complicated efforts to get the medication to Texans who receive government-subsidized health care. Full Story
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The conversation over the weekend before the party primary runoff elections was dominated by — what else? — the GOP race for lieutenant governor. Full Story
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More attention is being paid to the quality of care at VA medical centers in Texas. Though the state is limited in what it can do to assist the federal facilities, legislators are still proposing possible methods to help reduce wait times. Full Story
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A lawmaker involved in the House's investigation of UT System Regent Wallace Hall said the process of drafting articles of impeachment could take months. Also, Gov. Rick Perry gave his most forceful defense to date of his appointee to the university system's governing board. Full Story
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The news over the weekend that San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro is being considered for the post of housing and urban development secretary has people in Texas and D.C. wondering how this rearranges the electoral chessboard for 2016 and beyond. Full Story
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Nurse practitioners say state regulations, which link them to supervising physicians, limit their ability to treat patients in a state with a looming shortage of primary care physicians. Full Story
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News reports late Thursday that lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick had received treatment for depression and exhaustion in the 1980s threatened to roil further an an already tense runoff contest just days before voters begin casting ballots. Full Story
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Full video of my 5/13 TribLive conversation with U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland. Full Story
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Full video of my 5/12 conversation in San Antonio with U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the speaker of the House of Representatives. Full Story
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Health officials canceled a multi-million-dollar contract with Xerox, and the state sued the contractor on Friday amid allegations it erroneously doled out hundreds of millions of dollars for medically unnecessary Medicaid claims. Full Story
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A little-known provision of the Affordable Care Act grants certain young adults who were formerly in foster care extended health coverage through Medicaid until they turn 26. But locating and enrolling them could prove tough. Full Story
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The word "mess" doesn't even begin to describe what greeted the new director of the state agency that supervises the state's most violent sex offenders when she showed up to work. Full Story
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With his opponent's lapses in disclosure making headlines in recent days, some are now questioning GOP attorney general candidate Dan Branch's own commitment to transparency. Full Story
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Land Commissioner (and former lieutenant governor hopeful) Jerry Patterson will endorse David Dewhurst in the primary runoff contest over Dan Patrick, Dallas radio station KERA reported on Sunday. Full Story
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While health officials have repeatedly raised concerns with a state contractor for its role in opening the door to a massive Medicaid fraud scheme, they have not severed its multiyear contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Full Story