Past Contributions

• Has Patient Privacy Bill Hit a Snag?

  By Emily Ramshaw and Christopher Smith Gonzalez April 26, 2011

  State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst’s bill to further protect Texans’ private medical information looks stuck; it’s been three weeks since it passed out of committee, and it hasn’t yet been set for a House vote. Full Story 

• CDC: Southern States Lag in Smoking Bans

  By Emily Ramshaw April 21, 2011

  Though secondhand smoke leads to nearly 50,000 U.S. deaths among nonsmoking adults every year, no southern state, including Texas, has adopted a smoke-free law for worksites, restaurants and bars, according to a new CDC report. Full Story 

• Liveblog: A Conversation with Lance Armstrong

  By Emily Ramshaw April 21, 2011

  We liveblogged this morning's Triblive with Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor who was instrumental in creating the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, and is pushing smoke-free workplace bills in the Legislature. Full Story 

• House Gives Early OK to Health Care Compact

  By Emily Ramshaw April 20, 2011

  House lawmakers have put their initial stamp of approval on a health care compact — a partnership with other states to ask the federal government for control over Medicaid and Medicare in Texas. Full Story 

• Cornyn Won't Take "Nickel Tour" of Planned Parenthood

  By Emily Ramshaw April 20, 2011

  Sen. John Cornyn will not be “taking the nickel tour” of any Planned Parenthood branch, his office said Wednesday, in response to an offer by one of the organization’s Texas branches to arrange an informational visit. Full Story 

• Ogden Revives Key Piece of Federal Health Reform

  By Emily Ramshaw April 19, 2011

  Implementing a key piece of federal health care reform in Texas — something Gov. Rick Perry has expressed his firm opposition to — may be back on the table. Full Story 

• Senate Budget Takes Aim at Hospitals

  By Emily Ramshaw April 19, 2011

  It doesn’t include a “sick tax.” But the Senate version of the state’s 2012-13 budget still takes direct aim at hospitals, in an effort to find hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings and narrow the state’s revenue gap. Full Story 

• Could Soda Tax Fill Budget Hole?

  By Emily Ramshaw April 18, 2011

  Republican lawmakers have vowed to close the budget hole without a new tax. But that hasn’t stopped Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, from proposing a penny per ounce tax on soft drinks. Full Story 

• Doctors, Chiropractors Square Off Over Bill

  By Emily Ramshaw and Becca Aaronson April 14, 2011

  After a fierce fight, the state’s leading physician groups won a change in legislation backed predominantly by Texas chiropractors that could have prevented one health care licensing agency from challenging the ruling of another in court. Full Story 

• Senate Panel OKs Expanding Managed Care to Valley

  By Emily Ramshaw April 13, 2011

  A bill designed to find cost savings and efficiencies in Texas' costly Medicaid program — and, more controversially, expand managed care into the Rio Grande Valley — is moving to Senate budget writers for consideration. Full Story