Healthcare

Texas has the highest uninsured rate of children, adults, and women in the country. Reform Austin is committed to providing in-depth reporting to illuminate the critical issues and challenges Texans are facing in healthcare.
Texas is one of 14 states that refuses to expand Medicaid coverage. Almost 10 years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Texas still ranks last when it comes to affordability and access.
Additionally, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act could cost 1.73 million people healthcare coverage. Texas is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Texas still ranks among the worst for maternal mortality and low overall for women’s health. One in four Texas women are uninsured. Currently, women can obtain maternity Medicaid coverage until 2 months after childbirth. Advocates have argued that the coverage length is insufficient, and to address the maternal mortality crisis, coverage should be expanded to one year. Though Medicaid expansion would have made the biggest stride in improving women’s health, the policy did not get beyond a committee hearing or House floor vote in the 86th Legislative Session.
Approximately 875,000 Texas children do not have health insurance. From 2016 to 2018, the percentage of uninsured children rose from 10.7 percent to 11.2 percent. In Texas, once a child is approved for Medicaid they are covered for six months. After the six-month period, the state requires parents to file income updates monthly to continue the coverage. If the state determines there is a problem, parents are given 10 days to respond with necessary paperwork. This has led to many children being removed from the Medicaid roles, despite still qualifying for the program.
Reform Austin covers access to healthcare, healthcare quality, mental health, public health programs, and vaccinations. We report on laws the Texas Legislature passes and the effects they have on the healthcare system, as well as the laws that fail. In addition, we report on lawmakers involved to ensure our elected leaders are working for the public good.

Texas Emergency Abortion Ban Is Back In Place After An Injunction Was Granted

On Friday a Travis County judge’s order temporarily blocked Texas’s abortion ban on emergency abortions. Just a few hours later, the Attorney General’s office...

Texas vaccine exemption rates have reached an all-time high. Did Texas make it too...

As measles cases hit a 25-year high in the United States, Texas medical experts fear the state could see the next outbreak of a...

UT Health Joins Project Based on App to Track COVID-19 Outbreaks

https://youtu.be/chDBH-T5fyM University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston researchers are making use of a new smartphone app that monitors and tracks COVID-19 symptoms to...

What Happens If the State Doesn’t Expand Medicaid?

In mid-April officials at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services rescinded an extension to Texas’ 1115 Medicaid Transformation waiver. “e are rescinding...

5 Million Texans Lack Health Insurance. Here’s How That Complicates the Coronavirus Response.

For Christian Gutierrez, preparing for a coronavirus outbreak is as much a financial consideration as it is a health one. At what point should the...

Get a Flu Shot! It is Very Important This Year.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a decrease in immunizations for children heading toward the start of the...

Mental Health Care Bill Passes Out of Senate Health and Human Services Committee

(Pictured: Jane Nelson) One of the emergency items Governor Abbott laid out in his 2019 State of the State Address was mental health care, in...

Harris County’s Top Health Official Has a New Gig

After seven years Dr. Umair Shah, Harris County's top health official, is bound for the Pacific Northwest to be the next Secretary of Health...

Texas’ Uninsured Rate Hits New Record During the Pandemic

Already the uninsured capital of the nation, access to health care in Texas has worsened during the pandemic.  A new study by the National Center...

Texas men charged with trying to sell 50 million bogus N95 masks to foreign...

(Reuters) - Two Houston-area men have been criminally charged with trying to fraudulently sell 50 million N95 respirator masks they did not actually possess...
Award-App Footer

Download our award-winning app