Ramsey on what a GOP supermajority means, Ramshaw on a crime victim not eligible for crime victims’ compensation, M. Smith on grave matters and state regulation, Hamilton on the college pipeline at San Antonio’s Jefferson High, Hu on a senator’s anticlimactic return, Grissom on the coming closure of juvenile lockups, Aguilar on the return of residents to their drug-war-torn Mexican town, Galbraith on next session’s energy agenda, Philpott on the legal fight over federal health care reform and Stiles on the travel expenses of House members: The best of our best from Dec. 13 to 17, 2010.
Health care
In-depth reporting on public health, healthcare policy, hospitals, and wellness issues shaping communities across Texas, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Diagnosis: Unconstitutional
A federal court’s ruling on Monday declaring parts of federal health care reform unconstitutional elicited plenty of reaction in Texas, which is part of a separate attempt to repeal the new law. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Backtracking On McAllen?
New Yorker writer Atul Gawande put McAllen’s medical providers on the defensive in a 2009 article, claiming the region’s health care was among the most expensive in the U.S. In a new blog post, Gawande seems to backtrack — at least in part.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott Gives Virginia Ruling Thumbs Up [Updated]
A Virginia federal district court judge’s ruling today that the individual mandate portion of the Obama health care law is unconstitutional is a “huge victory” for Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a phone interview.
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Health care
Fat and Skinny
That steady drip, drip, drip in the biennial Scare the Speaker thing has been plugged for the moment. Scratching around for other amusements, we came upon a congressional map for Texas showing who’s got too few and too many people in their congressional districts.
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Health care
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Galbraith on wood chips and green energy, Aguilar on why conservatives might get the appeal of medical marijuana, Philpott on an effort to uncloak the hidden costs of government, Ramshaw and Galewitz of Kaiser Health News on federal plans to send less money to Texas for Medicaid, Aaronson visualizes who’s currently covered by Medicaid and how the billions are spent, E. Smith’s interview on higher ed and the “speaker drama” with Dan Branch, Hamilton on the costs of a losing football season, Grissom on Hispanic farmers’ reaction to a federal settlement in a widespread discrimination case, Hu on what’s ahead for Democratic legislators after an electoral drubbing, Chang on the rise of hepatitis B among Asian-Americans and M. Smith on the cuts likely for Texas classrooms in the wake of a record budget shortfall: The best of our best from Dec. 6 to 10, 2010.
Posted in
Health care
A “B” for Effort
One in 10 Asian-Americans has hepatitis B, a rate that is 20 times higher than the rest of the population — and is surely pronounced in Houston, which has the fourth-largest Asian population of any U.S. metropolitan area. But state public health officials struggle to get funding for vaccinations and outreach.
Posted in
Health care
Matching Medicaid
Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas has received more bad news: The portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government is about to drop. Texas’ Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, a mathematical formula linked to a state’s per-capita personal income, will fall more than 2 percentage points in late 2011, equivalent to a $1.2 billion hit. Only two states — Louisiana and North Dakota — will face a bigger percentage drop. And that’s after federal stimulus funds that have been artificially enhancing this match dry up in the spring, another blow to cash-strapped state Medicaid programs in Texas and across the nation.
Posted in
Health care
Drama Club
Maybe Dan Branch is right. Asked whether there’s a race for speaker, he called it more of a “Speaker Drama” and said Joe Straus (to whom he’s pledged) appears to have the thing locked up.
Posted in
Demographics
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
M. Smith and Butrymowicz of the Hechinger Institute on charter schools and public schools making nice in the Valley, Ramsey’s interview with House Speaker candidate Ken Paxton and column on the coming budget carnage, Hu on the Legislature’s disappearing white Democratic women, Grissom on the sheriff who busted Willie Nelson, Hamilton talks higher ed accountability with the chair of the Governor’s Business Council, Aguilar on the arrest of a cartel kingpin, Ramshaw on the explosive growth in the number of adult Texans with diabetes, Philpott on state incentive funding under fire and Galbraith on the greening of Houston: The best of our best from November 29 to December 3, 2010.