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The latest Medicaid news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Hospital War

    By Emily Ramshaw

    As lawmakers in D.C. hammer out a health care reform bill, physician-owned specialty hospitals — a quarter of which are in Texas — face an uncertain fate. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Math Anxiety

    By Ross Ramsey

    Will there be enough money to cover the current state budget? "Fortunately, it's too early to tell," jokes House Speaker Joe Straus. He and other state leaders are well aware of the numbers, and although they think it's not yet time to act, they're focused on the big question. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva, Elise Hu

  • Into Thin Air

    By Matt Stiles

    Lobbyists spent a record $15 million on advertising during the 2005 session and another $12 million in 2007 — but less than $1 million this year. What happened? Full Story 

  • Texas Weekly: Private, Patient-centered Health Insurance

    By Arlene Wohlgemuth

    A patient-centered approach to health care reform would build on America's world-leading quality and high patient satisfaction in a way that extends those benefits to even more people and empowers all patients to make their own medical decisions. Full Story 

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    Credit: Texas Public Policy Foundation

  • Poll: Perry Leads

    By Ross Ramsey

    The new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll debuted this week with a survey that puts Kay Bailey Hutchison 12 points behind Rick Perry in the race for Texas governor, that says the Democrats are mostly unknown and trailing that perennial frontrunner, Undecided, and that finds the Maybe Race for U.S. Senate dominated by three candidates who are all, in turn, losing to Undecided. Full Story 

  • Best-Laid Plans

    By Ross Ramsey

    It's hard to believe the governor saw this coming. When Rick Perry decided to replace the a board on the eve of a hearing about the evidence that sent a Texas man to the executioner, he couldn't have been thinking the story would grow legs and stomp all around his bid for reelection. Full Story 

  • Is there a doctor on the line?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Emergency medical technicians and entry-level nurses could be cut out of the telemedicine equation under a proposal the Texas Medical Board is considering. The change would prohibit anyone but doctors, physicians' assistants and advanced practice nurses from presenting patients for care via long-distance videoconferencing – a move rural hospitals and prison doctors adamantly oppose. Full Story 

    Perry shakes hands after a speech in the Texas House.
    Credit: Ross Ramsey

  • Changing the Odds

    By Ross Ramsey

    Signing anti-tax pledges — as both of the leading Republican candidates for governor have now done — warms the hearts of gambling promoters. Not because Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison suddenly become proponents of casino gambling, but because gambling often gets stuck in a threesome with program cuts and tax increases and that setup is what made it legal to bet on bingo, horses, dogs, and the lottery in Texas. Full Story 

  • States struggling to fund Medicaid

    By Emily Ramshaw

    States are struggling mightily to fund Medicaid services in one the deepest recessions in recent history, according to a 50-state health care study released by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. States, many of them strapped by budget shortfalls, overwhelmingly reported being saved by the federal stimulus package, and said without it, they would have been forced to make serious cuts in Medicaid eligibility. Full Story 

    Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the uninsured. Report: The Crunch Continues: Medicaid spending, coverage and policy in the midst of a recession. Results from a 50-state Medicaid budget survey for state fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

  • State technology chief resigns

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The executive director of the state's data and information technology agency stepped down last month. Brian Rawson, who spent the last three years overseeing the state's data consolidation and telecommunications efforts for the Department of Information Resources, will run "statewide data initiatives" for the Texas Education Agency. Full Story 

    Perry shakes hands after a speech in the Texas House.
    Credit: Ross Ramsey

  • Just Another Day at the Office

    By Ross Ramsey

    Remember the cartoons where the sheepdog and the coyote would meet at the time clock every morning, say hello, ask about the families, punch in, harass each other all day, then greet each other pleasantly as they punched out for the evening? Full Story 

  • Crunch Time

    By Ross Ramsey

    You get the feeling that this legislative session is just like the last one, run in reverse. Instead of starting with a whimper and closing with a bang, it started with a bang. It shows no signs of ending with one. Full Story