The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
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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Listen to Attorney General Greg Abbott explain why he and other attorneys general are suing the federal government over the just-passed health care reform bill. Full Story
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Did you miss your Texas lawmaker's floor speech on health care reform yesterday? No fear. C-SPAN's new video library (still in beta) has the video for you. 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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"It's just a question of whether to file our own lawsuit or join a multistate effort," says Attorney General Greg Abbott. Full Story
The Laredo congressman will support federal health care reform legislation. Full Story
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Grissom on the 1.2 million Texans who've lost their licenses under the Driver Responsibility Act and the impenetrable black box that is the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Ramshaw and Kraft on nurses with substance abuse problems and rehabilitation that can get them back to work, M. Smith finds it's not easy being Rick Green, Stiles on counting Texans (and everybody else), Rapoport on the State Board of Education's war with itself and the runoff in SBOE District 10, Thevenot's revealing interview with a big-city superintendent on closing bad schools, Aguilar on the tensions over water on the Texas-Mexico border, Hamilton on the new Coffee Party, Hu on Kesha Rogers and why her party doesn't want her, Philpott on the runoff in HD-47, Ramsey on Bill White and the politics of taxes, and E. Smith's conversation with Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heleimann: The best of our best from March 15 to 19. 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
Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus sent a firmly-worded letter to members of Congress today, urging them to vote against health care reform in Washington, or, as they dub it, "the federal government's takeover of health care." A vote is expected on Sunday. Full Story
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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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Texas nurses with substance abuse problems — including showing up to work drunk or high, stealing narcotics meant for patients, and forging doctor signatures on prescriptions for pain-killers — are often not punished for their acts for months or even years and continue to practice in the meantime, according to a Texas Tribune review of state disciplinary records. Full Story
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This week begins the final push to pass federal healthcare reform legislation, and the Democrats will have to do it without the help of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco. 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
The weekend slaughter in Mexico of two U.S. citizens with ties to the consulate’s office in Ciudad Juarez has sparked outrage from Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have publicly condemned the attacks that left a pregnant consulate employee, her husband and a Mexican national dead. Full Story
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Census Bureau questionnaires arrive at 8.4 million Texas homes this week. "Fill that sucker out," the bureau's regional director says, "so we don't have to come and knock on your door." Full Story
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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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