The Utah Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to reverse polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs’ felony rape convictions has opened the door for his prosecution here — and has likely made it easier to extradite him to Texas.
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
TribBlog: Wait Times Drop In Texas ERs
Wait times in Texas emergency rooms dropped by 14 minutes between 2008 and 2009, but it still takes just over 4 hours to be seen by an ER doctor, according to a new study by the health care research group Press Ganey.
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Health care
TribBlog: How Much Do Kids Count?
Texas ranks 34th nationally in childhood well-being, has the third highest teen birth rate and is experiencing a rapid increase in child poverty, according to new numbers released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS Count data center.
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Health care
Whooping It Up
Cases of whooping cough spiked in Texas last year to their highest level since 1962. Ben Freed of KUT News reports on what’s being done to prevent the spread of this disease.
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Health care
Access and Accommodation
Today is the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has been hailed as a Bill of Rights for people with disabilities. Nathan Bernier of KUT News talked to one of the architects of the legislation, Dr. Lex Frieden, a professor of at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston who has been partially paralyzed since 1967. “Life has changed signficantly,” Frieden says.
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Health care
Hunger Pains
Advocates accuse the state of fudging the number of processed food stamp applications to show greater success than is occurring.
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Demographics
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw’s question about an insurance company denying coverage for an infant vaccine prompts a reversal; Stiles’ new app lets you poke through mid-year campaign reports on donations and spending; Ramsey finds foreshadowing of the state’s big fall races in the campaign finance reports; Aguilar interviews Henry Cisneros about current politics; Dawson finds Texas environmentalists getting advice from an unexpected place; Galbraith on “demand response” that might cut the need for power plants and on the next wave of electric cars; Aguilar on increasing trade through Texas ports of entry; M. Smith on affirmative action battles in higher education; Titus on Mexican college students’ drift from border universities to UT-Austin and Texas A&M; and Hamilton on controversy over private, for-profit colleges: The best of our best for the week of July 19 to 23, 2010.
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Health care
A Shot in the Arm
Most of Texas’ health insurance companies have fully covered the costs of the infant vaccine Prevnar 13, which prevents deadly cases of bacterial pneumonia and meningitis. The exception has been Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, which has forced physicians to make up the difference or turn babies away. But no more: On Monday, the same day The Texas Tribune asked about the reimbursement gap, BCBS reversed course. It will now cover all costs associated with the vaccine.
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Demographics
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom’s three-part series (here, here and here) on prosperity and peril along the U.S.-Mexico border, Hu on the Division of Workers’ Compensation audit report, Stiles puts more than 3,000 personal disclosure forms filed by politicians, candidates and state officials online, M. Smith on attempts to curb the practice of barratry (better known as ambulance chasing), Ramsey interviews the chair of the Texas Libertarian Party, Hamilton on attempts to improve the success rates of community colleges, Galbraith on whether electric deregulation has helped or hurt Texans, Aguilar talks to a chronicler of the bloody narco-wars and Ramshaw on doctors who most often prescribe antipsychotic drugs to the state’s neediest patients: The best of our best from July 12 to 16, 2010.
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Health care
Baby Bump
At a hearing today, the Department of Family and Protective Services will consider stricter caregiver-to-child ratios for child care centers — but improved care for Texas toddlers could also mean less income for child care providers and higher tuition for families.