Children’s hospitals in Texas are looking to the 88th Legislature to prioritize the behavioral and developmental health of children, adolescents, and teens. Hospital officials are looking to 2023 to build out infrastructure and services to meet the mental health needs of children, which they say are greater than ever. “The piece that’s unique … Read more
Following the tragedy in Uvalde this past May, the Texas Legislature is focused on an array of measures headed into 2023 that are aimed at addressing mental health and safety in public schools. Prefiled bills that address school mental health, safety, and discipline include measures concerning bullying and harassment (House Bill 498), corporal … Read more
After several high-profile shootings at healthcare facilities in Texas in 2022, including a murder-suicide outside a children’s hospital in Houston on Monday, officials are calling for legislation to support and protect nurses. Rep. Donna Howard (D- Austin), a former licensed nurse practitioner and nursing educator in the state, has refiled House Bill 112 … Read more
The Texas Hospital Association (THA) released a new report on Thursday that shows the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a profound financial toll on the state’s hospitals. Hospital operating margins were 24.1% below 2019 pre-pandemic levels with nearly half of hospitals reporting negative margins in 2022. Higher expenses and lower hospital volumes are threatening … Read more
House Bill 526, a proposal filed for the upcoming session that would require standard health benefit plans in the state to cover diagnostics for HIV infection, will likely face an uphill battle. That’s according to the bill’s sponsor Rep. Gene Wu (D- Houston), who pushed a similar measure to prevent the spread of … Read more