House members filed nearly 240 proposed tweaks to the massive spending plan and spent hours taking votes on controversial issues ranging from Medicaid expansion to school vouchers.
Medicaid
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas lawmakers are working on an incomplete budget
The Texas Legislature is working on a budget that spends around $250 billion. But it doesn’t include billions in federal COVID-19 relief money or account for big changes that could rock the state’s Medicaid programs.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Medicaid expansion picks up bipartisan support in the Texas House, but hurdles remain
Expanding the Medicaid rolls to include more than a million Texans could get a floor vote during House budget hearings on Thursday.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Republican state House speaker backs expanding Medicaid to cover mothers for a year after they give birth
The number of reported maternal deaths has increased nationwide in recent decades. Health experts and advocates say giving low-income moms Medicaid coverage for a year after delivery, rather than two months, could save lives.
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Health care
Judge rejects bid by Planned Parenthood to stay in Medicaid, affecting health service for thousands of low-income Texans
Health officials had told Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid patients they had until early February to find new doctors, but the health provider filed an emergency lawsuit saying the state had not followed the proper procedures.
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Health care
Texas Congressional Democrats urge Gov. Greg Abbott to let Planned Parenthood stay on Medicaid
Their plea comes just days after a state district judge temporarily stopped the state from excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, a government health insurance program for the poor. A hearing is scheduled for later this month.
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Health care
Texas temporarily blocked from kicking Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid
A state district judge ruled Wednesday. That’s the same day the state had given Planned Parenthood patients to find new doctors after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas officials who have long sought to block the health provider from participating in Medicaid.
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Demographics
Low-income Texans struggle to find new doctors as state officials boot Planned Parenthood off Medicaid
The state’s health commission gave Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid patients until Feb. 3 to find new doctors. Experts say there are limited places low-income patients can go, in part because Texas already has a shortage of doctors who accept Medicaid due to the state’s low payment rates.
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Demographics
Texas gives Medicaid recipients using Planned Parenthood until Feb. 3 to find new health care provider
The extension comes after the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November sided with Texas officials who have long tried to block Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor.
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Health care
Disabled Texans worry loss of Affordable Care Act could cost them programs that help them live independently
Texas is leading a group of conservative states in a legal battle to have the sprawling health care law struck down. Without it, disabled Texans stand to lose programs that have allowed more people to stay in their homes, rather than state-run institutions.
