The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
UPDATED: Gov. Rick Perry met with three health care activists who helped organize a protest of his speech before Austin business leaders Wednesday. Both sides said the meeting was cordial, though there were no breakthroughs. Full Story
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Ahead of a Wednesday bill-passing deadline, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has sent an email to supporters urging them to ask their senators to vote out several anti-abortion measures. Full Story
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In a surprise turn of events in the House on Monday evening, a Medicaid reform bill meant to address long-term and acute care services became a weapon in the GOP’s fight against Medicaid expansion. Full Story
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Legislators are preparing to dedicate hundreds of millions more dollars to mental health care for the first time in years. Haven for Hope in San Antonio serves as a model of the services and success they aim to emulate. Full Story
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A House bill designed to curb Medicaid fraud became a vehicle to save floundering health care legislation on Friday. Full Story
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Independent pharmacists struggling to keep their doors open could soon expect more transparency in negotiating rates with Medicaid managed care organizations. Full Story
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Managed care plans would be required to offer more mental health services to Medicaid recipients under a bill tentatively approved by the House on Friday. Full Story
The House tentatively approved a bill to reform the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, bringing the state one step closer to restoring financing for the beleaguered agency. Full Story
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Texas Right to Life is working overtime to defeat a measure supporters say would improve state laws governing end-of-life medical decisions. With time running out, the fight over the legislation has shifted from political to personal. Full Story
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Medicaid providers would have clearer due process rights during fraud investigations under a measure the House gave tentative approval to on Wednesday. Full Story
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UPDATED: Budget negotiations stretched late into the evening on Wednesday, but lawmakers said privately they didn’t expect to announce a deal until Thursday. Full Story
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On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Efforts to include Texas in the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid have come down to a single budget rider. Full Story
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Harris County authorities and the Texas Department of State Health Services are investigating a Houston doctor accused Wednesday by an anti-abortion group of performing late-term abortions in 2011. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would require a foster child's guardian to give informed consent before that child could be put on psychotropic drugs. The Senate will now conference with the House on a final agreement. Full Story
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Last week Houston physician Steve Hotze, a major Republican campaign donor, announced he was suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act. This week, he's singing a similar tune — literally. Full Story
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After a years-long fight for prescriptive authority, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants supervised by a physician may soon get authority to prescribe controlled substances, under a bill the House gave an early OK to Tuesday. Full Story
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In the waning days of budget negotiations, medical providers are pushing lawmakers to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates that were chopped two years ago. Full Story
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State Rep. John Zerwas, a budget conferee, said Monday he’s relatively confident that a rider stipulating the Legislature's preferred Medicaid reform terms for any deal with the federal government would stick to the 2014-15 budget. Full Story
If the state Legislature approves reforms to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the embattled agency should have its financing restored, budget negotiators decided on Monday. Full Story
The Texas Medical Association is pushing measures this legislative session to help modernize medical practices, such as collecting or verifying patient data by swiping a driver's license. Full Story
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