health care

Lawmakers and experts pin the blame for rising insurance costs on health companies consolidating and creating less competition.

Increased insurance cost will wipe out 1% raise granted by Legislature, budget director says

Cigna announced earlier this year that it is withdrawing from the individual insurance market nationwide

Health care is the largest and fastest growing industry in Texas — but the workforce isn't growing fast enough to meet increasing demand. Workforce shortages are getting worse, according to testimony from state officials during a House Committee on Public Health hearing.

He wants to restore funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which he said could help Kansas farmers.

A new report shows Texas leading the country in its rate of uninsured children under 6.

Currently, both Blue Cross and Aetna are health plan options, with 35,400 employees enrolled in the former and 4,500 in the latter.

The agency that oversees behavioral health and social work providers has about 1,000 "pending" complaints against providers — hundreds more than it has received in previous years. Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council leadership told lawmakers it may need support from the state to handle the volume.

To avoid the long distances rural health care providers have to travel for needed training, Texas Health has created a mobile simulation lab to bring the training directly to providers.

Some of Texas' largest buyers of health care provided insight into what might be driving higher health care costs. The House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability concluded its two-day public hearing Friday.