Texas Medicaid

Nonprofits across the country have been grappling with changes in federal spending and the cuts to departments and grants. As coordinator with other local organizations, Lubbock Area United Way has been updating partners on developments at the state and national level, and advocating for policies suited to West Texas.

Having never expanded Medicaid, Texas avoided most of the looming federal cuts other states will face. But the Affordable Care Act is a different story.

The bill is moving quickly through Congress and could reshape life for millions of Texans.

A federal judge in San Antonio has ruled that the state of Texas for decades unnecessarily institutionalized 4,500 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing home facilities, denying them appropriate services that are required under federal law.

On Thursday, the U.S. House narrowly passed a sweeping bill that slashes about $3.8 trillion in taxes by scaling back social safety net programs including Medicaid and SNAP.

Katherine Wells was celebrated early during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then public health became a political litmus test.

A new study about potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP found that Texas could see its gross domestic product shrink by $7 billion.

Abortion is legal in Texas only when the life of the mother or a “major bodily function” is at risk. Doctors, who could face prison time for performing an abortion, have been seeking clarification on the exception.

The request, which includes hiring more staff and updating the online application system, comes as applicants must wait for months to receive approval for benefits.

Texas officials acknowledged some errors after they stripped Medicaid coverage from more than 2 million people, most of them children. A ProPublica and Texas Tribune review of records shows that these mistakes and others were preventable.