The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
Attorney General Greg Abbott announced on Friday the creation of the Choose Life Advisory Committee, a group that will make recommendations for spending money generated by "Choose Life" license plates. Full Story
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Connie Spears, a double amputee, says Texas' tort reform laws obstructed her ability to find a malpractice lawyer and forced a judge to order her to pay thousands of dollars to cover some defendants’ legal bills. Full Story
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A bill filed Thursday in the Texas House would give religiously based businesses a state tax break if the businesses chose not to comply with the federal government’s mandate that employers provide contraception coverage. Full Story
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Water, transportation and education are the dominant topics this legislative session, but pro-marijuana reform groups hope that recent laws passed in Colorado and Washington will sway Texas lawmakers to follow suit. Full Story
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The Travis County district attorney’s office clarified on Wednesday that its criminal investigation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas “is ongoing and aggressive.” Full Story
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Full video of my January 22 TribLive conversation about family planning and women's health with state Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Sarah Davis, R-West University Place. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about the possibility of legislation in the 83rd session restricting access to abortions. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about whether the new state-run Texas Women's Health Program will have enough providers without Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade — the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion — the lawyer who successfully argued the case talks with the Tribune about women’s rights and recent anti-abortion legislation Full Story
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On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade — the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion — the lawyer who successfully argued the case talks with the Tribune about women’s rights and recent anti-abortion legislation. Full Story
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This interactive map shows the locations of Planned Parenthood clinics excluded from the new Texas Women's Health Program, overlaid with the non-Planned Parenthood providers that have agreed to treat state-subsidized patients in those areas. Full Story
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A South Texas pharmacy featured in a June Tribune article on independent pharmacists struggling to adapt to lower Medicaid reimbursement rates will shut its doors on Friday. Full Story
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As lawmakers try to trim the budget for health care for prison inmates, one bill aims to cut costs by re-examining a program that releases inmates deemed the oldest, sickest and most expensive. Full Story
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Democratic legislators are questioning whether the Texas Women’s Health Program has an adequate network of health care providers in light of a state agency’s decision to pull the list of providers from a state website. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Jane Nelson on Wednesday discussed new Senate proposals that target Medicaid spending. The plans would institute quality-based payment reforms for long-term care services and measures to catch fraud and abuse. Full Story
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Travis County District Judge Stephen Yelenosky on Friday refused to grant Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary injunction to be included in the Texas Women’s Health Program. Full Story
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The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Foundation — a nonprofit that supplements the salaries of the leaders at the state’s beleaguered $3 billion cancer research agency — released a full list of its donors on Thursday. Full Story
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Doctors in the Rio Grande Valley are leading the charge to restore cuts made during the 2011 legislative session. They want lawmakers to once again make it so that Medicare and Medicaid benefits add up to 100-percent of dual eligible patients' bills. They're expecting a fight. Full Story
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As they contemplate whether to expand Medicaid, Texas lawmakers will weigh factors including enrollment growth, costs and savings, and the effects on the rate of insured. This interactive breaks down the numbers connected to those factors. Full Story
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With roughly a quarter of its huge jail population receiving psychotropic drugs or other treatment for mental illness, Harris County officials decided to do something different to address what they call a 'crisis' in their community. Full Story
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