Texas fetal remains burial trial gets underway
The law at the center of the case is Senate Bill 8, passed in 2017, which requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains. Full Story
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![Protesters of Texas' fetal remains burial rule gather outside the Governor's Mansion on Jan. 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers to address neglect of medically vulnerable Texans following Dallas Morning News report
Following the newspaper's investigation into failings and cutbacks in the state's managed care program, three Texas House committees will meet this month to discuss ways to improve the program. Full Story
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![State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, speaks to media regarding her request to add ethics reform to the special session on Aug. 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas reproductive rights groups worried about Trump proposal to strip funding from clinics affiliated with abortion providers
Anti-abortion advocates and state leaders, meanwhile, hope the rule will help the state power the right to distribute federal family planning dollars. Full Story
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Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Amid contracting scandal, Charles Smith to retire as head of Texas health commission
Smith, executive commissioner for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, will step down at the end of May after weeks of intense scrutiny over how the commission handles contracts. Full Story
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![Charles Smith, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testifies at a Nov. 1, 2017 state House committee hearing.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Report: Thousands more Texas women being served in health programs
Despite rising numbers, it's still not known whether the number of women accessing such services has returned to the levels that preceded massive budget cuts during the 2011 legislative session. Full Story
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![A billboard advertising the Healthy Texas Women program in downtown Austin.]()
Credit: Tim Park for The Texas Tribune -
A Texas health commission employee was fired. Then she received the private information of more than 100 clients.
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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![Tracy Ryans pulls out client applications containing private information that was mistakenly sent to her from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on April 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
State auditor finds more contracting errors made by health agencies
The State Auditor’s Office released a 30-page report on Monday showing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of State Health Services bungled a contract with Genesis Systems Inc. Full Story
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![Charles Smith of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services testifies Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, to the House Committees on Human Services and Public Health at the Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Health agency leader: "We welcome" audits into contracting issues
Texas Health and Human Services executive commissioner Charles Smith said during a speech Thursday that his agency is working to improve how it handles contracts. Full Story
![Charles Smith, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testifies at a Nov. 1, 2017 state House committee hearing.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus calls for investigation into state health agency contracting
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said that the House Appropriations Committee or the General Investigating and Ethics Committee should look into the Health and Human Services Commission’s practices for contract oversight. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announces he won't seek re-election in 2018 at a press conference at the state Capitol on Oct. 25, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas takes early steps to repair or replace its aged mental hospitals
Texas Health and Human Services officials announced Monday that they are receiving $47.7 million to begin needed construction for existing state hospitals, some of which are more than a century old. Full Story
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![The Austin State Hospital is shown on April 29, 2016. Officials said that as of April 2016, state hospitals have nearly 400 people on waiting lists, and the number of beds the state pays for in private facilities has not kept up with the state’s rapid population growth.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber -
Texas has enough federal funds to keep CHIP running through the end of March
Texas now has enough federal money to keep alive a health insurance program for more than 400,000 uninsured kids and pregnant women through the end of March, a state official said Friday. Full Story
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![Dr. Javier Saenz checks the ear of Viviana Escareño, 6, for infection. The young girl’s mother, Claudia Escareño, has brought “Vivi” to Saenz’s clinic since she was born.]()
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Three women indicted in death of impaired woman in state facility
Five months after the death of a severely disabled woman in a state facility, three employees have been indicted on felony murder charges. Full Story
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Analysis: Sometimes, the political agenda in Texas sets itself
Between courts and scandals, football and storms, rats of the literal and figurative varieties, state leaders have lately been forced to react to outside events instead of using their offices to set their own agendas. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott presents Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner with a $50 million check for Hurricane Harvey relief on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, you probably won't get welfare benefits — even if you qualify
Texas’ rolls of cash assistance recipients under its TANF program have steadily shrunk over the last two decades. Some experts say the bureaucracy guarding the state’s safety net makes it difficult to access those benefits, even for Texans who fit the requirements. Full Story
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![Betty Smith, who is the caretaker of 16 kids but was deemed ineligible for state aid, speaks at a Grand-Parent Support Group Inc. meeting in Houston on Oct. 19, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas has more than one problem with government rats
The infestation of Norwegian rats in a state building where health regulators work is not only a big, embarrassing mess — it's a metaphor for a persistent problem in Texas government. Full Story
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With CHIP in limbo, Texas parents worry about how to cover their kids
Texas is pushing the federal government for temporary funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program while Congress fights over a permanent solution. Full Story
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![Patients wait to be seen at the People's Community Clinic in Austin, on Nov. 8, 2010.]()
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Texas health regulators overrun by "several hundred" rats at Austin headquarters
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a $60,000 vermin problem, and is hiring private exterminators to deal with an estimated "several hundred" sewer rats in the building. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva/Laura Skelding -
Without recovery funds, more than 50 Texas day cares close after Harvey
A number of Texas day care centers are in rough shape after Hurricane Harvey, adding one more challenge for parents trying to get back home and find work — they're unable to find a safe place to leave their children. Full Story
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![Jacqueline James looks over at infants playing in the only building in her child care center that did not suffer severe damage from Hurricane Harvey.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
State gives Alternatives to Abortion program $20 million more in funding
The Texas Legislature's budget for the next two years includes $20 million more in funding for a controversial state program that seeks to discourage women from getting abortions in the state. Full Story
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![Anti-abortion demonstrators march up Congress Avenue toward the Capitol in Austin for the Texas Rally for Life on Jan. 28, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas insurers to cover advanced breast cancer screenings
A new law will require insurance companies to cover 3-D mammograms for Texas patients. The advanced screening technology allows for early detection of cancer and reduces false positives. Full Story
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![A new law will require insurers to cover 3-D mammograms at no additional cost to patients. Radiology technologist Shadak Kiankarimi works with a 3-D mammography machine at ARA Diagnostic Imaging in Austin. The computer screen shows the detail of the 3-D imaging.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune
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