In triple-digit temperatures, drinking water frequently and resting in the shade are minimum safety measures for avoiding injuries and deaths. But they are not applied to every job site.
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
As veteran disability claims soar, unaccredited coaches profit off frustration with VA system
Austin-based VA Claims Insider says it has helped hundreds of thousands of clients. It has also touched off complaints and investigations.
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Health care
Texas Supreme Court says Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID ban on local mask rules was lawful
Several of Texas’ largest cities sought to put in place mask requirements, which Gov. Greg Abbott overturned. The ruling is a legal win for Republicans in Austin their ongoing symbolic fight with cities, often run by Democrats.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
Nearly 10,000 more babies born in nine months under Texas’ restrictive abortion law, study finds
This is the first analysis of live births since the law, which banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, went into effect in September 2021.
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Health care
Nurses walk out of Austin’s Ascension Seton in historic strike
The nurses union says its members are responsible for too many patients at a time, resulting in delays in care for patients and more exhaustion among nurses.
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Texas Abortion Restrictions
A year after Dobbs decision, Texas has settled in to a post-abortion reality
The impact of Texas’ near-total ban on abortion is coming into focus as patients and providers leave the state, legal challenges languish and the state’s social safety net braces for a baby boom.
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Health care
Fentanyl is dominating headlines, but there’s a more comprehensive drug problem happening in Texas
Lawmakers are passing laws in an attempt to slow the rise in fentanyl overdoses, but drug advocates warn the opioid is mostly a booster for other illegal drugs.
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Health care
After an Austin employee gave birth to a stillborn baby, she was disqualified from parental leave. Now, city leaders want change.
Two days after delivering a stillborn baby, an Austin Public Health employee was notified she would not qualify for the city’s eight weeks of paid parental leave.
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Health care
Gov. Greg Abbott says he won’t renew his COVID-19 disaster declaration later this week
Texas appears to be the last state with a broad pandemic declaration, which was begun in 2020, still in place.
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2023 Session Recap
This year, Texas lawmakers zeroed in on existing health care programs, leaving bolder measures by the wayside
Pregnant moms on Medicaid will get health care coverage for a year, patients will get more detailed billing and nurses will get help with school loans. But efforts failed to gain steam for legalizing fentanyl test strips, increasing the pool of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid and expanding Medicaid benefits to more Texans.