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The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.

  • This Might Hurt: A Dose of Politics

    By Abby Rapoport

    Immunization advocates want to expand our vaccination database, but the well-educated, middle-class parents who oppose them are organized and driven — and could force lawmakers to take sides in the tussle between personal freedom and public health. Full Story 

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  • The Last Time Around

    By Julián Aguilar

    How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad. Full Story 

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  • This Might Hurt

    By Abby Rapoport

    Advocates for vaccination records say a complete registry of shots would help the state navigate major health crises. Opponents say it would jeopardize patient privacy. Lawmakers like the potential cost savings, but they still aren’t sure where they stand. Full Story 

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  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    The death penalty and DNA testing in a 16-year-old triple murder in the Texas Panhandle. The second debate between the three Republican candidates for governor. Charter schools are having a hard time hanging on to the employees that matter the most: Teachers. The possibilities and perils of a switch to electronic medical records. A rundown of top races. Who's giving to candidates, and how much? Social networks and politicians. Ballots: The slow reveal. And a new and highly requested feature makes its debut. The best of our best from January 23 to 29, 2010. Full Story 

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  • Paperless Medicine?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Three challenges stand between Texas and the era of electronic medical records: convincing doctors to use them, figuing out how to safely share and protect them and finding a way to pay for them. Full Story 

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  • Barack and a Hard Place

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Two very different Texans in the U.S. House of Representatives — Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and John Carter, R-Round Rock — respond to the president's State of the Union address. Full Story 

    Rep. Lamar Smith, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. John Carter and Rep. Michael McCaul at groundbreaking for the new Austin United States Federal Courthouse.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Hu explores on the schism between Bushworld and Perrywold and the increasingly curious question of what Debra Medina wants; Stiles goes all Shark Week on gubernatorial campaign finance, with searchable databases, bubble maps and word clouds; M. Smith on what happens if there's a GOP runoff; Rapoport on the sniping between Perry and KBH on transparency; Hamilton on KBH's abortion issue odyssey; Ramshaw exposes the disgracefully low percentage of state school employees who abuse or kill profoundly disabled Texans and are then prosecuted for their acts; Thevenot on higher ed's tuition time bomb; Aguilar on the Latino pay gap; Ramsey on Farouk Shami's "gift" to Hank Gilbert; Ramsey and Philpott on the the Supreme's Court's corporate campaign cash fallout; and E. Smith's interviews with House Speaker Joe Straus with retiring Republican state representative — and future Texas State chancellor? — Brian McCall. The best of our best from January 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story 

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  • The Abortion Answer

    By Reeve Hamilton

    As she demonstrated in last week's debate, Kay Bailey Hutchison still struggles with how to describe her position on an issue that many Republicans consider sacrosanct. Full Story 

  • Abuse of Power

    By Emily Ramshaw

    State employees who commit heinous acts against Texas' most profoundly disabled citizens rarely get charged with crimes, let alone go to jail. A Texas Tribune review of a decade’s worth of abuse and neglect firings at state institutions found that just 16 percent of the most violent or negligent employees were ever charged with crimes. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Guest Column: The 2010 Agenda: Criminal Justice

    By Scott Henson

    In response to shrinking budgets, there's a risk that lawmakers might feel compelled to scale back funding for treatment and diversion programming. Instead, it's time for the state to seriously consider closing one or more of the 112 prison units it currently operates. Full Story 

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  • Slow Medicine

    By Brandi Grissom

    As El Paso begins to wear the new off its hard-fought medical school, another Texas border community is starting on the long road to establishing its own. University of Texas System officials are evaluating how long it will take and how much it could cost to train the next generation of doctors in the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story 

    Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen
    Credit: RAHC

  • The Prescription: Business as Usual

    By Nathan Bernier, KUT News

    As part of his continuing exploration of how the effort to rewrite health care policy is playing in Texas, KUT’s Nathan Bernier reports on one Austin doctor who says that if it weren’t for his ability to opt out of the insurance system, he might have retired many years ago. Full Story 

  • The Prescription: On the Edge

    By Nathan Bernier, KUT News

    Down on the border, there are more uninsured people, fewer primary care physicians, and higher rates of certain chronic illnesses. As part of his continuing exploration of the effort to rewrite health care policy, KUT's Nathan Bernier talked to a doctor in Eagle Pass. Full Story