Texas Women Needed Help From the Legislature. They Didn’t Get It.

More than 25% of Texas women between ages 18 and 44 don’t have health insurance coverage. That’s one of the biggest takeaways from a new study into the effects of Medicaid expansion on maternal health from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Texas’ uninsured rate for women of child-bearing age…

Texas On Its Way to Raising Smoking Age to 21

Barring an upset, Texas looks poised to become the 14th state to raise its smoking age, after the Texas House passed an amended version of a Senate bill raising the state’s tobacco-use age on Tuesday. Under the bill, the purchasing age for all tobacco products in the state would be…

Ex-U.S. National Team Swimmer Says Dallas Clinic Sold Her Tainted Vitamins

A former University of Texas All-American and U.S. National Team swimmer sued a Dallas clinic Tuesday, claiming a multivitamin she bought from the clinic led to a 2018 doping suspension. FINA, international swimming’s governing body, suspended Madisyn Cox for two years in March 2018 after she tested positive for trimetazidine,…

North Texas Hit With Fourth Measles Case of 2019

Tarrant County is the latest area in North Texas to have a resident come down with measles, county health officials said Thursday. The unnamed county resident makes 14 confirmed cases in Texas and four in North Texas so far in 2019, more than in the last four years combined. According…

With Abortion Rights On the Brink, Planned Parenthood Stays Focused

Monday was a weird time to be celebrating for Planned Parenthood. The venerable reproductive rights advocacy organization and healthcare provider faces attacks from all sides. President Donald Trump wants to strip the organization of millions in federal funding; multiple speakers at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference accused abortion providers…

Dallas County Flu Season Claims Its Sixth Death

Dallas County health officials announced late Friday that an 89-year-old Dallas resident is the sixth person in the county to succumb to the flu this month. Dallas County Health and Human Services doesn’t release any additional information about virus or infection victims. Each of the six Dallas County deaths this…

Ken Paxton’s Got a New Plan to Keep Texas Off Opioids

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rolled out the state’s next big plan to save Texans from U.S.’ ongoing opioid epidemic Tuesday afternoon: A website and some seriously weird stock photography. “The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids cost lives and devastate Texas families in every region of our state,” Paxton…

Dallas County Hit With First Flu Deaths of 2018-19 Season

Two adults are the first Dallas County residents to die from the flu this season, Dallas County Health and Human Services officials announced Wednesday afternoon. The two victims were 59 and 66 years old, according to the county, which does not provide any additional identifying information about those who succumb…

What Friday’s Affordable Care Act Ruling Means for Texas

The headline — “Fort Worth Judge Strikes Down Affordable Care Act” — was easy enough to understand, at least on its face, Friday evening. The potential fallout was harder to break down. Yes, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, handpicked by the Texas Attorney General’s Office to hear its claims that…

Texas Has Highest Rate of Uninsured Children In United States

More adult Texans, and a higher percentage of them, are without health insurance than anywhere else in the United States, the Observer reported in September. A new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families shows that kids in the state are no better off. More than 835,000 Texas…

CDC Is Conducting a National Health Survey in Dallas

Those people knocking on Dallas County doors with a badge and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ID aren’t late trick-or-treaters vying for extra candy. They’re health examiners from the CDC gathering data for a national health survey known for developing understanding of national health conditions. The National Health and…

Texas Ends Health Contracts With Anti-Abortion Group

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced Friday afternoon that it is ending its contract with an anti-abortion group receiving millions from the state to provide women’s health services as part of multiple programs. The Heidi Group, according to the state, repeatedly failed to serve the number of patients…

Today, Fort Worth Is the Center of the Political Universe

A federal lawsuit that could end up harming millions of Texans kicks off in earnest this morning in Fort Worth. A coalition of states, led by Texas and its attorney general, Ken Paxton, will argue in front of a federal judge that the Affordable Care Act, despite being ruled constitutional…