The latest Department of State Health Services news from The Texas Tribune.
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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Grissom on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to stay Hank Skinner's execution, Thevenot on the myth of Texas textbook influence, Rapoport on the wild card who was just elected to the State Board of Education, Ramshaw on the price of health care reform, Philpott on the just-enacted prohibition on dropping kids from the state's health insurance rolls, M. Smith on the best little pole tax in Texas, Ramsey on the first corporate political ad and the reality of 2011 redistricting, Stiles on the fastest-growing Texas counties, Aguilar on the vacany at top of Customs and Border Protection at the worst possible time, Galbraith on the state's lack of renewable energy sources other than wind and its investment in efficiency, and Hu and Hamilton on the runoffs to come in House districts 52 and 127. The best of our best from March 22 to 26, 2010. Full Story
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A year ago, staff at the Corpus Christi State School were forcing mentally disabled wards to fight each other, and state lawmakers raced to enact new accountability measures. How are they working out? Ben Philpott, who covers politics and public policy for KUT News and the Tribune, has this report. Full Story
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The Texan at the top of the American Medical Association explains why Texas has so much to gain from the health care overhaul, what effect tort reform has had on the state’s medical costs, and what the political ramifications are for his organization's support of the reform bill. Full Story
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Behind the fiery health care rhetoric is a measure expected to dramatically expand Texas’ Medicaid program, adding up to 1 million adults to the state’s insurance roll — but at a steep cost. Texas will have to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to foot its share of the bill. Full Story
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"I have apologized to Mr. Stupak and also apologize to my colleagues for the manner in which I expressed my disappointment about the bill," says U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock. Full Story
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An elected official shouted "Baby killer!" at Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, and a California Republican is saying it was a Texan. Which Texan? "The people who know won't give it up," he says. Full Story
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House lawmakers passed the Senate version of long-awaited health care reform on Sunday night. And Texas leaders were quick to fire off on it. Full Story
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The Laredo congressman will support federal health care reform legislation. Full Story
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Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar is one of the last undecided House members mulling over the federal health care bill. He still has a few concerns. Full Story
The thought of receiving care from a drug-addicted caregiver — even a rehabilitated one — makes many patients shudder. But Texas routinely gives nurses with substance abuse problems second chances. At any given time, 600 to 700 nurses are enrolled in a rehabilitation program intended to help them kick their addictions and get back to work. Full Story
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Federal officials announced more than $162 million in health information technology grants today — including $28.8 million to help the Texas Health and Human Services Commission make the switch to electronic medical records. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius described the funding, which went to 16 states as part of the federal stimulus act, in an afternoon press conference. Full Story
Thevenot on the non-stop wonder that is the State Board of Education and its latest efforts to set curriculum standards, E. Smith's post-election sit-down interview with Bill White at TribLive made some news and got the November pugilism started, Ramshaw on whether it makes sense for the state to call patients and remind them to take their pills, and on the state's botched attempt to save baby blood samples for medical research, Hamilton's interview with Steve Murdock on the state's demographic destiny, M. Smith on whooping cranes, fresh water, and an effort to use the endangered species act to protect them both, Grissom on potties, pickups, and other equipment purchased with federal homeland security money and Stiles' latest data and map on where that money went, Aguilar on the "voluntary fasting" protesting conditions and treatment at an immigrant detention facility, Kreighbaum on football, the new sport at UTSA, and Philpott on Rick Perry and Bill White retooling their appeals for the general election. The best of our best from March 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story
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The new rulings could result in a decrease in the number of lawsuits surrounding vaccines. Full Story
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Texas has spent tens of millions of dollars on “disease management” — phone calls and check-ins with Medicaid patients designed to control costly chronic illnesses and save money. The jury's still out on whether it worked, but the state's preparing to rebid the contract anyway. Full Story
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In the weeks before state health officials incinerated more than 5 million baby blood samples that they stored without consent, privacy advocates, parents and legislators reached a last-ditch accord to save them but couldn’t convince the Department of State Health Services to sign on. A Texas Tribune investigation found that the agency had turned hundreds of such samples over to a federal Armed Forces lab to build a DNA database — and hadn’t been upfront about it with lawmakers or the public. Full Story
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Ramshaw on the state's quiet sharing of infant blood samples with the military and on the things Rick Perry's opponents aren't saying about him, Grissom on Farouk Shami's surprising popularity in El Paso, Philpott on the political advantages of a job creation fund and how Debra Medina's supporters are reacting to her "truther" comments, Hu on Debra Medina in the latest installment of Stump Interrupted, Thevenot on how the kids feel about the federal option of closing bad high schools, Rapoport on the newest mutation of the state's pay-as-you-go transportation philosophy, and our roundup of party primaries in the last week before the election: Rapoport on HD-7, Ramsey on HD-11, Aguilar on HD-36 and HD-43, Philpott on HD-47, Thevenot on HD-52 and SD-5, Kreighbaum on HD-105 and one Supreme Court race, M. Smith on another, and Hamilton on the colorful Democratic candidates for Agriculture Commissioner. The best of our best from February 22 to 26, 2010. Full Story
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The Texas Attorney General's office is throwing its own punches at the attorney who sued the state over its storage of infant blood samples, saying all he wanted was the headlines. Full Story
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When they were sued last year for storing baby blood samples without parental consent, Texas health officials said they'd done it for medical research. They never said they turned over the blood spots to the federal government to help build a vast DNA database. A Texas Tribune review of nine years' worth of e-mails and internal documents on the Department of State Health Services’ newborn blood screening program, released after the state settled the case so quickly that it never reached the discovery phase, shows an effort to limit the public’s knowledge of the program. Full Story