Hu on freshman House Democrats trying to win re-election in a Republican year, Grissom on Republicans bolstered by those same political trends, Aguilar on slow reforms in immigrant detention programs, Chang on the trouble with synthetic marijuana, Ramshaw on how proposed cuts in state Medicaid services could affect 13,000 Texans, yours truly on how political polls have as much to do with who’s counted as with what they say, Galbraith on why Texas is building coal plants in spite of tightening federal air pollution standards, Hamilton on community colleges accusing the University of Texas of siphoning money from their financial wells, M. Smith on the court of inquiry proposed for a death penalty case and how it would work, and E. Smith interviews U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess about federal health care: The best of our best from Oct. 11 to 15, 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
Health care
Full Audio: Michael Burgess at TribLive
Full audio of Evan Smith’s interview and audience Q&A with U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville.
Posted in
Health care
A Conversation With Michael Burgess
For the 14th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Republican congressman from Lewisville on the problems with federal health care reform, what’s wrong with the way Barack Obama and the Democrats got it passed and how he’ll lead the charge to repeal it — if his party takes back control of the U.S. House.
Posted in
Health care
A Hole in the Safety Net
Advocates say the Department of Aging and Disability Services’ baseline budget request eliminates financing for more than 13,000 people — the majority waiting to receive Medicaid waiver services. Agency officials will only say that an “unknown number” of people already receiving the services could lose them. It’s unclear if lawmakers can make these cuts without risking losing federal funding; federal health care reform requires states to maintain coverage at the same level it was when the Affordable Care Act became law in March.
Posted in
Health care
Clay Boatright: The TT Interview
The new president of the Arc of Texas on why the disability community’s rallying cry to close state-supported living centers has become trite and ineffective, why the movement’s messaging should be upgraded (employing everything from the iPad to the Bible) and why businesses and faith-based groups should be mobilized to fill the gaping holes in government services.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
2010: The Wages of Sin
If the state needs money to balance its budget, it should look first to sin taxes on gambling, alcohol and marijuana.
Posted in
Health care
A Cost-Benefit Analysis
3M Co. is the latest American company to stop offering health insurance plans to early retirees. Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports that more employers are looking to drop employees from coverage plans because, they say, the federal health care overhaul will make it easier for people in their 50s and 60s to find affordable policies on their own.
Posted in
Health care
An Interview With Arc of Texas President Clay Boatright
An Interview With Arc of Texas President Clay BoatrightTexas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: State Forgoes Millions in Federal Sex Ed Funds
At the end of the summer, Texas quietly opted to forgo another pot of federal money — specifically, $4.4 million that would have gone toward educating youth on abstinence and contraception to prevent teen pregnancy.
Posted in
Health care
In the Soup?
Double-billing taxpayers for travel expenses, driving a luxury car owned by a state transportation contractor and repeatedly failing to pay taxes won’t put a lawmaker in good standing with the ethics police, as state Reps. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco; Joe Driver, R-Garland; and Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, are finding. The three hope the headlines dogging their re-election bids won’t follow them to the polls, while their Democratic opponents are reveling in their misery at every campaign stop. Yet whether a scandal forces an incumbent from office depends on the scenario.