The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas lawmakers passed a two-year state budget on Saturday that cuts $15.2 billion from current spending — most of that in health and human services — but avoids increased taxes and leaves $6.5 billion untouched in the state's Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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Many thought this was the year. But Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, acknowledged on Saturday that a measure establishing a statewide smoking ban in Texas is dead. Full Story
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Eliminating funds for family planning services is not a responsible or compassionate choice. It will shift the burden of care to our already overloaded local hospitals and leave the women who depend on these services with few options. Full Story
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At a time when we are scouring the budget and questioning every expenditure, when funding for essential services like public education must be reduced, it is time to stop subsidizing abortion providers under the guise of "family planning." Full Story
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When Texas lawmakers said they wanted to run government like a business, they left out the part about using Enron and Countrywide as their models. Full Story
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Hope for a smoke-free Texas seems officially snuffed. State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, said today that a statewide smoking ban would not live on as an amendment to Senate Bill 1811. Full Story
The Women's Health Program — long believed to require legislative renewal — lives on, at least for now, in the form of a budget rider. Full Story
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State Sen. Dan Patrick says he knows why the federal government has intervened on two key bills facing Texas lawmakers in the final days of the legislative session: “retribution.” But is it that simple? Full Story
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Lawmakers made progress today on solving the current budget deficit but still haven't solved the major problem in the 2012-13 budget: school finance. Full Story
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Rep. Lois Kolkhorst threw herself a life raft tonight, attaching her Health Care Compact bill — a measure that would seek to give Texas control of the purse strings for Medicare and Medicaid — onto a Senate health care bill that the House passed on third reading. Full Story
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Rep. Lois Kolkhorst is holding Sen. Jane Nelson's health reform bill hostage. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry has delivered his fiscal message loud and clear: Balance the cash-strapped state budget with cuts, not with the Rainy Day Fund or new taxes. Yet some of his most loyal advisers, past and future, are representing clients beating a very different drum. Full Story
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Texas’ efforts to take control over Medicaid, the joint state-federal health care program for poor children and the disabled, could be in trouble. Full Story
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In a mixed-bag swipe at "Obamacare," the Texas Senate approved a bill today that would require state agencies to report the costs — and savings — of implementing federal health care reform. Full Story
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The Legislature has just a few days to get the state budget, the most important bill of the session, passed and to the governor's desk. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the final items needed to send lawmakers home on time. Full Story
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One day after the education fiscal bill, SB 1581, died on the floor of the House, lawmakers are scrambling to reach a deal and keep the budget bill, HB 1, on track for approval by both chambers before the weekend deadline. The governor is among the optimists who think they'll finish their work without going into overtime. Full Story
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House lawmakers have given the first OK to a key piece of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's health reform plan, after efforts to turn the bill into a health care Christmas tree fell short. Full Story
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This morning, Gov. Rick Perry signed into law House Bill 15, the so-called abortion sonogram bill, which Senate sponsor Dan Patrick, R-Houston, termed "the beginning of the end for abortions." Full Story
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The U.S. Census Bureau released data this week showing how many people moved to and from Texas in the last year. California sent more people our way than any other state — and we lost the most Texans to Oklahoma. Full Story
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State lawmakers have fired back against a Federal Trade Commission letter suggesting Senate Bill 8 — a key piece of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's health reform push — violates antitrust laws. The measure is expected to come up for a vote in the House on Tuesday. Full Story
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