Tag Archives: health care

Harris County creates reproductive health access fund

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. In a bid to protect residents’ already restricted access to reproductive health care, Harris County officials voted to approve a proposed fund to go toward Harris County Public Health and smaller community organizations at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting. The … Continue reading →

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The limitations of Plan B

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A helpful and timely explainer from the Associated Press. WHAT ARE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES? Emergency contraceptives are used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or if a method of birth control fails. Two types of medications, sometimes referred to as “morning … Continue reading →

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It’s the year 2022 and we’re still litigating the Affordable Care Act

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Isn’t this horse dead yet? A federal judge in Fort Worth agreed Wednesday with a group of Christian conservatives that Affordable Care Act requirements to cover HIV prevention drugs violate their religious freedom. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor also agreed … Continue reading →

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Plan B

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott told The Dallas Morning News that rape victims can take emergency contraception, like Plan B, to prevent a pregnancy. With abortion now banned in Texas, even in … Continue reading →

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At least you’re (probably) not giving birth in West Texas

Posted on August 13, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is a long story about the lack of prenatal and obstetric care in West Texas. It’s mostly set in Alpine, Presidio, and Big Bend, which are the “big cities” in the area that actually have doctors and medical facilities … Continue reading →

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“Silver loading”

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I did not know this. The latest state to take strong action to improve affordability in its ACA marketplace is … Texas? […] But let me explain some background details first. Below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (that … Continue reading →

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Time once again for Texas hospitals to struggle financially

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I feel their pain, but… More than $3 billion in federal money has flowed to Texas health care providers in recent months to help pay for COVID-19 treatments, tests and vaccines for patients without health insurance, according to national health … Continue reading →

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Texas gets its Medicaid 1115 waiver back

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Hrmph. A federal district judge on Friday temporarily reinstated a 10-year extension of a federal health care program that Texas uses to help pay for health care for uninsured Texans and is worth billions of dollars annually. The agreement was … Continue reading →

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An alternate route to Medicaid expansion

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’m okay with this. Texas Democrats have tried for years to convince Republican state leaders to increase access to Medicaid. Now they think they have found a way to do it with or without their help. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS upholds Obamacare again

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Another Ken Paxton failure, for which we should be grateful and also really pissed off. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas-led legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, saying the plaintiffs in the 2018 lawsuit are … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues over revocation of Medicaid 1115 waiver

Posted on May 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Someone please explain to me if this has any merit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration Friday to reinstate an eight-year extension to a federal health care funding agreement, worth billions of dollars annually and set to … Continue reading →

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Today is not the day we expand Medicaid

Posted on April 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Tomorrow isn’t looking so good either. The Texas House on Thursday rejected an attempt to direct the governor and state health officials to use billions in federal dollars to expand health care coverage for uninsured Texans, including working poor who … Continue reading →

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Medicaid expansion by any means necessary

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Whatever it takes. But I’ll believe it when I see it, and I have a very hard time believing that the current cast of characters will do anything to make it happen. Texas Republicans have been swift to condemn the … Continue reading →

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Now it really is time for Texas to expand Medicaid

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good for the Biden administration putting the pressure on. The Biden administration on Friday rescinded changes to a federal funding agreement, known as a 1115 waiver, that would have extended for 10 years Texas’ health care safety net for uninsured … Continue reading →

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The Texas 2036 poll

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Texa 2036 is a new (to me, anyway) organization with a mission “to enable Texans to make policy decisions through accessible data, long-term planning and statewide engagement”. Mostly, they seem like good-government-through-good-data types who favor things like public education and … Continue reading →

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Matt Glazer: A way to end surprise medical bills

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

(Note: The following is a guest post that was submitted to me. I occasionally solicit guest posts, and also occasionally accept them from people I trust.) At a young age, I had to deal with medical issue after medical issue. … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus and delivery workers

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a very obvious answer for this. Couriers delivering online orders of household essentials have become a lifeline for Houstonians hunkering down at home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. But a growing number of workers responsible for … Continue reading →

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Abbott declares a state of emergency

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like it’s called for. Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday declared that the new coronavirus is a statewide public health disaster and said that Texas is on the verge of being able to significantly ramp up its testing capacity. At … Continue reading →

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Medicaid and hospitals

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. A proposed change in Medicaid rules could cost Texas hospitals billions of dollars, forcing many to cut services and some rural hospitals to close their doors, health care industry officials said. The … Continue reading →

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The extraordinary danger of being pregnant and uninsured in Texas

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

So utterly appalling. From 2012 through 2015, at least 382 pregnant women and new mothers died in Texas from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to the most recent data available from the Department of State Health Services; since then, … Continue reading →

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Perspective on the anti-vaxx situation

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe it’s not as bad as we think. It’s certainly true that pockets of vaccine refusal persist in this country, as they have for many years. If those pockets are now experiencing greater numbers of measles cases, it may be … Continue reading →

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The Fifth Circuit Obamacare hearing

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Remember, the Fifth Circuit is where hope goes to die. Adjust your expectations accordingly. On the left was Judge Carolyn Dineen King, an appointee of Jimmy Carter; on the right sat Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a nominee of Donald Trump, and … Continue reading →

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The lawsuit to kill Obamacare has its hearing at the Fifth Circuit today

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves. Last year, after a federal judge in Texas declared the entirety of the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, throwing into question millions of Americans’ health coverage, the state’s Republican leaders promised they would come up with a plan to … Continue reading →

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Maybe rural counties don’t want hospitals

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s what the evidence says. The voters of Fayette County have spoken, and they’ve said that they don’t need a hospital in this rural community of 322,000 people, one hour southeast of Austin — or at least not enough to … Continue reading →

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Trump goes all in against health care

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. The Trump administration wants the federal courts to overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety, an escalation of its legal assault against the health care law. The Justice Department said in a brief filed on Monday that the administration supports a … Continue reading →

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Ridiculous anti-Obamacare ruling remains on hold

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It is what it is. The federal judge in Texas who ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional said today that the law can stand while his judgment is under appeal. In his order issuing a stay and final partial judgment … Continue reading →

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The AG race and the lawsuit to kill Obamacare

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like this is a better issue for Justin Nelson than it is for Ken Paxton. Of course, on the down side, for it to really be salient millions of people will have lost health insurance. Not that Ken … Continue reading →

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The hearing for the lawsuit to kill Obamacare

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. At the hearing Wednesday, Texas aimed to convince U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to block the law across the country as it continues to fight a months- or years-long legal case that could land before the … Continue reading →

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Where best to attack Culberson?

Posted on July 8, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Flooding is an obvious issue, but it’s hardly the only one. After Hurricane Harvey flooded much of Houston – including the hotly contested Seventh Congressional District – Republican incumbent John Culberson used his position on the House Appropriations Committee to … Continue reading →

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Health care needs to be a twofer

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Lt. Governor candidate Mike Collier is on the right track here, but he needs to keep going. Lieutenant governor hopeful Mike Collier announced his health care reform plan Tuesday, which aims to reduce costs and increase access to health care … Continue reading →

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Justice Department drops out of latest Obamacare lawsuit

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Which of course was filed in Texas by our felonious Attorney General. The Trump administration said Thursday night that it will not defend the Affordable Care Act against the latest legal challenge to its constitutionality — a dramatic break from … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder, CHIP is still running out

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

In case you were wondering. Nearly 400,000 Texas children could lose healthcare coverage in late January unless Congress renews funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a decades-old federal program that provides health care to millions of children across the … Continue reading →

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Another national publication looks at CD07

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Mother Jones, come on down. In addition to [Laura] Moser, the top competitors for the March primary are first-time candidates with stories that fit the political moment in different ways. Lizzie Fletcher, a well-connected lawyer at a large downtown firm, … Continue reading →

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The “death by a thousand cuts” strategy

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

How To Kill A Health Insurance Market, Non-Legislative Division: The move by the White House to quietly end the contracts of two companies key to assisting people enrolling for insurance under the Affordable Care Act caught Houston health advocates off … Continue reading →

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