Lawmakers agree that curbing elective inductions of labor and so-called “convenience” cesarean sections would prevent premature births and save the state money. But how best to do it has left child welfare advocates and hospitals at odds.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
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Health care
Doctor Legislation Raises Safety Concerns, Questions of Motive
Are Texas doctors hamstrung by unfounded complaints? Reps. Bill Zedler and Fred Brown think so. But the bills they’ve filed to address the issue are largely opposed by the state’s biggest physician organization.
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Economy
House Budget Shrinks Spending, Slashes Services
The Texas House started with a $164.5 billion budget and ended with the same total. But lawmakers spent the better part of a weekend making changes inside the budget for 2012-13 before giving it their approval, 98 to 49.
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Health care
Insurers Drop Child-Only Plans, Blame Health Reform
Insurers in Texas have stopped offering new child-only policies in protest over a provision of the federal health care overhaul. For children being raised by their grandparents, there are few options left.
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Health care
Guest Column: Of Course We Can Cut the Budget
Today, as we vote on House Bill 1, we are in the position of squeezing water out of rock, and the process is hard and dirty work. Democrats will say there is no water in the rock. They are wrong.
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Economy
Plenty of Politics in Budget Amendments
Numbers aren’t all that’s buried in the budget. Lawmakers have filed hundreds of amendments that are political in nature, from repealing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants to trying to push Planned Parenthood out of the family planning business.
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Health care
HIV Medication Program in Peril
With budget deliberation looming in the Legislature, Gretch Sanders of KUT News reports that funding cuts to one health program could mean a death sentence for some.
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Health care
Advocates Rally to Retain State Health Funds
Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol today to urge lawmakers to maintain state spending on Medicaid and CHIP, the health care programs for children, the disabled and the very poor.
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Health care
“Retarded” Likely to Be Struck From Texas Statutes
File this in the “this hasn’t happened yet?” category: The Texas Legislature has taken one big step toward banishing the “R” word from state statutes.
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Health care
Study Ranks Texas Counties by Health
Williamson County is home to Texas’ healthiest residents, and Marion County is the least healthy in the state, according to the annual County Health Rankings.