The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
The quickest way to curb the state's reeling Medicaid costs? Eliminating fraud and recovering funds, state officials say. “I just don’t think people out there have any idea how much money is being scammed,” said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Grapevine. Full Story
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Texas' superlatives are nothing to brag about, according to the fifth edition of "Texas on the Brink," an annual review that ranks the state on dozens of factors ranging from health insurance to voter turnout. Full Story
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They’re surely facing the worst budget cycle any of them have experienced. Yet in hours of testimony before lawmakers, the commissioners of Texas’ social services and education agencies appear largely unruffled. Full Story
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One lawmaker has proposed a constitutional amendment blocking lawmakers from passing so-called unfunded mandates on to local governments. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, cities and counties worry the costs will come anyway. Full Story
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In a rock concert-like setting, at times reaching Howard Dean-like volumes, Gov. Rick Perry used his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington to deliver his resounding message: The government closest to the people is the one that governs best. Full Story
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The proposed budget cuts Gov. Rick Perry laid out in his State of the State speech are more symbolic than lucrative and trivialize the cuts that are being made elsewhere in state services and programs. Full Story
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Unlike the debate over voter ID, in which Senate Democrats stood united in their opposition, a combination of politics, religion and personal histories have made the sonogram bill more divisive in their caucus. Full Story
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This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Reeve, and Ben mulling over the State of the State, the new House committee assignments, and the politics of abortion. Full Story
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The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it plans to release hard population totals and racial breakdowns for Texas next week, the first step in what could be a politically complicated redistricting process. Full Story
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Health care in Texas prisons is already so abysmal it borders on being unconstitutional, according to a report released today by the Texas Civil Rights Project. The cuts lawmakers are now considering, they said, will almost certainly spark lawsuits that could cost Texas more money than it would spend to simply improve the system. Full Story
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More than 100 Texas doctors made a deal with the state: For four years, they would practice in underserved communities and treat the neediest patients — in return for having their med school debt forgiven. But now state officials may be backing down from their side of the bargain. Full Story
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Even before state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, tweaked a bill requiring a woman seeking an abortion to have a sonogram performed, he said lawmakers and the media had misunderstood his intent. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry will challenge the state's colleges and universities to offer a $10,000 bachelor's degree, including books, in his State of the State speech later this morning, according to sources familiar with some of the proposals. Full Story
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Obesity cost Texas businesses $9.5 billion in 2009, according to a report released today by Comptroller Susan Combs. It could cost them $32.5 billion annually by 2030. Full Story
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We must continue to fight to ensure that we implement cost-saving reforms that reflect Texas' commitment to prosperity and to economic growth. But our current budget shortfall isn't a time to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Full Story
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We need a balanced approach that uses our reserves and adds revenue. And we have to start by casting aside wishful thinking; we are writing the 2012-13 budget, with higher costs and increased enrollment in education and health care services — not some past budget. Full Story
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More money is not the answer to our current woes. Just as anyone managing a household budget knows, when a family’s expenses grow beyond its income, the solution is to cut back — particularly if its spending habits resemble the state's. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether a Republican who supports abortion rights can survive a statewide primary, whether the sonogram bill on the governor's list of emergency items addresses a real or a political problem, whether it will pass and what other issues of interest to social conservatives might win approval from this Legislature this year. Full Story
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State Comptroller Susan Combs may test that question. She is considering a run for lieutenant governor in 2014. Full Story
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The keepers of numbers over in the LBJ Building, north of the Capitol, have confirmed to lawmakers what they warned them about in 2006: The legislation that cut local school property taxes and revised the state's corporate franchise tax didn't balance, to the tune of $10 billion a biennium. Full Story