The debate over how much federal health care reform will cost Texas put the state’s health and human services chief on the defensive on Wednesday, as he presented a budget estimate that is 20 times higher than federal projections.
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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Demographics
TribBlog: First Responders
Census Day isn’t until tomorrow, but residents in some Texas cities and counties got a significant head start, according to the latest questionnaire response rates.
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Health care
HHSC Chief Testifies on Health Care Costs
Is the health reform price tag in Texas $1.4 billion… or more like $24 billion? State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, asks HHSC Commissioner Tom Suehs to explain why his agency’s estimate is so much higher than a federal estimate.
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Health care
TribBlog: Health Care Price Tag Growing?
State officials painted a grim picture of how much the federal health care reform will cost Texas, and cautioned lawmakers on Wednesday that the price tag will likely grow.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Census Director “Concerned” About Texas
Texans’ lagging response to the U.S. census questionnaire is getting the attention of the higher-ups at the bureau.
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Demographics
James Baker Says …
The former secretary of state talked foreign policy, partisan politics and the national debt at an event co-presented by the Tribune, the Center for Politics and Governance at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, and the LBJ Library.
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Demographics
On the Records: Texas Still Slow on Census
The U.S. Census Bureau today updated its data on how many households had returned the decennial questionnaire. Texas is still seven percentage points behind the national rate — ahead of only Mississippi and Alaska.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: The Census Gets Interactive
The U.S. Census Bureau recently launched an interactive map that makes it easy to track participation in the decennial count of households. The map application, which relies on the Google Maps API, visualizes the participation rates by color — orange for higher rates, and blue for lower rates.
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Criminal Justice
Down for the Count
As of Friday, three-quarters of Texans hadn’t returned their census forms. Only five states have a worse rate of participation so far.
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Health care
The Single Most Political Thing They Do
In politics, the crayon is mightier than the ballot. A political mapmaker can do more to change the power structure than a herd of consultants with fat bank accounts behind them. And 2011 will be the Year of the Mapmakers.