The pandemic-driven economic downturn has left more than 5.4 million Americans with no job and no insurance. Texas has one of the largest shares of this increase. Full Story
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Texas had the highest uninsured rate of any state before the outbreak. It's also among a minority of states that have declined to expand Medicaid coverage to people with incomes near or below the poverty line. Full Story
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"This decision is necessary to ensure the contract award processes are conducted with integrity, fairness and transparency," a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said. Full Story
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More than half a dozen health plans are appealing the contract decisions for STAR+PLUS, the state's privatized insurance program for elderly, blind and disabled Texans. Full Story
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Most states check once a year whether children on Medicaid still qualify for the program. Texas checks more often, using an automated system that critics say leads to kids losing coverage even though they're still eligible. Full Story
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The Senate budget also includes a $6.3 billion boost for public schools, about $4 billion of which would increase teachers’ and librarians’ annual salaries by $5,000. Full Story
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A federal program known as the 1115 waiver helps pay for the costs of providing health care to the uninsured. Advocates want the Texas Legislature to order a renegotiation of the waiver, which partially expires in 2021. Full Story
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Idaho, Maine, Nebraska and Utah voters approved Medicaid expansion through ballot initiatives. Now Texas legislators have filed bills for a vote over whether the state should expand coverage for the joint federal-state health insurance program. Full Story
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Amid what some call an eye care crisis, Texas optometrists are hoping the Legislature will give them more power to help patients without needing other doctors. But ophthalmologists say allowing optometrists more power would put patients' vision at risk. Full Story
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Chris Traylor's new position comes after joining the federal government in July as deputy administrator for strategic initiatives at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Full Story
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More and more states have decided to expand Medicaid, but Texas has not budged. With more than a half million Texans in the so-called health coverage gap, will the politics of the issue shift in next year's legislative session? Full Story
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In a report released Friday, the House Select Committee on Opioids and Substance Abuse wrote that Texas "must remain vigilant" when it comes to ongoing issues around addiction and drug abuse. Full Story
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The state’s Drug Utilization Review Board is taking public comment on whether to expand Medicaid’s preferred drug list to include medication-assisted treatments for opioid addiction besides Suboxone. Full Story
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Poland and Texas have comparable populations, conservative governments and stringent anti-abortion policies. But they differ significantly in how health care is delivered for women — and in the role they allow midwives to play in the childbirth process. Full Story
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Dozens of people — including children and adults in wheelchairs, parents, insurance executives, state agency officials and representatives of advocacy groups — packed the room for the latest hearing in the aftermath of a Dallas Morning News investigation into Medicaid managed care companies. Full Story
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The decision comes years after the state found that Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership, a subsidiary of Xerox, allowed workers with limited expertise to approve dental claims for the state's Medicaid program. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Emma and The Dallas Morning News' Dave McSwane about the separation of immigrant families on the Texas-Mexico border and McSwane's Pain and Profit series about misdeeds in the state's Medicaid managed care program. Full Story
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The Texas Health and Human Services Commission's Office of the Inspector General is investigating how a former agency employee was mailed a box full of private client information. Full Story
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With a Republican in the White House, top Texas leaders have reached an agreement with the federal government to keep Medicaid money flowing into Texas to help hospitals treat uninsured patients. Full Story
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A group of parents is asking the state to test all babies for spinal muscular atrophy, the most common genetic cause of infant death. They hope that a treatment newly approved by the FDA will bolster their cause. Full Story
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