The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
Health care providers across Texas are submitting proposals to transform the way they care for the poor and uninsured. But the complicated bureaucratic process for achieving these lofty goals to transform the system has led to disagreements over how to distribute money. Full Story
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For health care in Texas, 2012 was a year rocked by scandals, budget cuts, legal challenges and major policy shifts at the state and national levels. Here's a look back at the year's biggest stories on health care. Full Story
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Texas could be the next state to face legal action from a pharmaceutical company that sells a drug designed to prevent pregnant women from delivering premature babies. Full Story
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This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: State Rep. David Simpson is officially running for House speaker, but some former opponents of current Speaker Joe Straus are now sticking with the incumbent. Full Story
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Health care providers in Texas who treat dual eligible patients — those who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid benefits — will get some relief in 2013. Full Story
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UPDATED: The boards of both Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare have signed a letter of intent to merge the two organizations, creating a $7.7 billion health network called Baylor Scott & White Health. Full Story
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The rates of elective surgery for Medicare patients vary dramatically depending on which part of the state Texans live in, according to new research from the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which analyzes medical referrals, procedures and health care costs across the nation. Full Story
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On November 8, the Tribune and the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Politics Project asked four experts on state health, water, transportation and education policy to preview the fights over those issues in the 83rd session. Full Story
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As federal policies push medical providers to switch to electronic health systems, a new job market for highly trained health IT professionals is quickly emerging — and the University of Texas at Austin is taking advantage of it. Full Story
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At our Hot Seat conversation at Trinity University in San Antonio, state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and state Sen.-elect Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, sparred about public education, health care and other issues in play in the upcoming 83rd session. Full Story
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When lawmakers passed a budget in 2011 that cut $73 million from family planning services, the goal was largely political: halt taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. Now they are facing the policy implications and, in some cases, reconsidering. Full Story
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If Texas lawmakers expand Medicaid, the spending, savings, enrollment growth and reduction in the number of uninsured would be greater in Texas than in most other states. This interactive compares Medicaid expansion scenarios in each state. Full Story
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Despite Gov. Rick Perry’s firm opposition to Medicaid expansion, a key tenet of federal health reform, Texas Democrats remain optimistic that the 2013 legislative session can yield a deal on the issue. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general's office is pursuing legal action to seize the West Texas ranch owned by the polygamist sect led by Warren Jeffs, who is serving life in prison for sexually assaulting young girls. Full Story
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At our Hot Seat conversation at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, and U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, talked state and national politics and previewed both the 83rd session and the 113th Congress. Full Story
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Anti-abortion advocates in Texas championed a string of successful measures in the 2011 Texas legislative session. For the upcoming 2013 session, they are trying to up the ante. Full Story
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The end is near for the federally funded Women’s Health Program. Could a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood really stand in the way of the state launching the Texas Women's Health Program to replace it? Full Story
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If a new anti-abortion measure filed by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, passes in the upcoming legislative session, women in remote corners of the state may have even fewer options to get the procedure. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, incoming state Reps. Cecil Bell Jr., Giovanni Capriglione and Mary Gonzalez discussed what Texas should do about the Affordable Care Act now that President Obama has been re-elected. Full Story
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Medical providers are speaking out against the state's Medicaid fraud investigations, saying the investigations are crippling innocent businesses and impacting patient care. Investigators say they only target providers when there's credible evidence. Full Story
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