Tag Archives: Medicaid

Texas takes another shot at Planned Parenthood

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They have a cheat code available, so they use it. For more than a decade, the state has been trying and failing to chase Planned Parenthood out of Texas. Texas restricted and then banned abortion. The state removed Planned Parenthood … Continue reading →

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Some data points in the “future doctor shortage” story

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From The 19th: The landscape of American health care has undergone an extraordinary transformation in the past several years, with the end of federal abortion protections allowing states to end access to the procedure, and the concurrent rise in bans … Continue reading →

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The last thing we need is more people in the jail

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a rare place where Democrats have leverage. Make good use of it. With an eye on Harris County, Texas lawmakers are considering new measures aimed at keeping more defendants accused of violent and sexual crimes behind bars as … Continue reading →

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A closer look at the maternal mortality report

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I take no joy in predicting that the Legislature will take no action on this. Nakeenya Wilson was at a meeting of Texas’ maternal mortality review committee when she got the call: Her sister, who had recently had a baby, … Continue reading →

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Senate committee makes small Uvalde recommendations

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Par for the course. A special Texas Senate committee that convened in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting made a series of policy recommendations Wednesday regarding school and gun safety, mental health, social media and police training. In an … 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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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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The birth control gap

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas will do nothing to address this as long as the current government is in place. Ramírez’s situation reflects an immense need in the country: 21 million women of reproductive age needed publicly funded contraceptive care as … Continue reading →

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The empty “mental health” promise

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What’s going on in Uvalde these days. Days after the May 24 shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised an “abundance of mental health services” to help “anyone in the community who needs it … the totality of anyone who lives … Continue reading →

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Republicans are not going to stop passing anti-abortion bills

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s what they do. There is no finish line for them. During their 20 years in control of the Texas Legislature, Republican lawmakers have steadfastly worked to chip away at abortion access. Bound by the limits of Roe v. Wade, … 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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How the 2030 Census could be different

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A very early preview of some possibilities, which may or may not come to fruition. Beyond the reports of undercounts and overcounts in population totals, there is another takeaway from the post-mortem of 2020 census data issued on Thursday: This … Continue reading →

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How about a new Ken Paxton scandal?

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Funny how these things keep cropping up. It’s almost as if it were habitual or something. In late 2018, Conduent Business Services, the giant information company formerly part of Xerox, was on the edge of a financial cliff. For more … Continue reading →

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“Maternity deserts”

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. A few weeks ago, a woman gave birth at Hereford Regional Medical Center, a critical access hospital in the Texas Panhandle. Or, rather, the woman gave birth in the parking lot at … Continue reading →

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Texas sues over the health care workers vaccine mandate

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a trifecta. In Texas’ latest legal challenge targeting federal vaccination mandates, Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over its recent order requiring health workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The Biden administration issued an emergency order, … Continue reading →

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Michelle Beckley files for Lt. Governor

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

And now there are three. Democratic state Rep. Michelle Beckley of Carrollton, who gained national attention for joining lawmakers who fled to Washington, D.C., to block a Republican election bill this summer, is running for lieutenant governor, expanding her party’s … Continue reading →

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Medicaid and the “heartbeat” law

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Texas’ new abortion ban makes no exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. Nearly a month after it was enacted, state health officials still won’t say whether that includes Texans on Medicaid, a small but critical … Continue reading →

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The nursing home vaccination mandate

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This just seems obvious to me. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he is directing all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding. Biden said he is directing the Department … 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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UT/Trib: More polls that say permitless carry is not popular

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The UT/Texas Tribune polling machine did a whole bunch of issue polls following the end of the legislative session. That’s a long article that gives the highlights on each question – they covered a wide range of topics, some of … 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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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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House passes its budget

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The rites of spring in Texas: The start of baseball season, the first 90-degree day, and in odd-numbered years, the House Budget Amendment-Palooza. The Texas House on Thursday night unanimously passed its proposed two-year, $246 billion state budget after members … 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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Planned Parenthood not booted from Medicaid yet

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

A (likely very) temporary reprieve. Responding to an emergency lawsuit filed hours earlier, a Travis County judge issued an order Wednesday blocking Texas from removing Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid health care provider beginning Thursday. The 14-day temporary restraining order, … Continue reading →

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The Republicans are not going to expand Medicaid

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe there was a brief moment, when the budget situation looked dire, when the forbidden topic could have been quietly whispered about. But come on, we know the score. Texas Republicans have long resisted expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care … Continue reading →

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UH Hobby School poll: Popular things are popular

Posted on January 30, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

That’t the main takeaway here. More than two-thirds of Texans support raising some new taxes and using the state’s rainy day fund to patch budget shortfalls from the pandemic, according to a new survey by the University of Houston’s Hobby … 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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Here’s the official budget forecast

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

“Could be worse” remains the watchword. Texas lawmakers will enter the legislative session this week with an estimated $112.5 billion available to allocate for general purpose spending in the next two-year state budget, a number that’s down slightly from the … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead to 2022

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with the brain dumps, which are my post-election tradition. This is a collection of thoughts about the next big election, in 2022. As I said earlier, I take no position on the question of what effect the disparity in … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: The Susan Collins of Texas

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Three things in life are certain: Death, taxes, and certain Chron endorsements. The voters in state House District 134 — a swing district that covers all or parts of River Oaks, Bellaire and Meyerland and includes the Texas Medical Center … Continue reading →

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