Paying for Health Care

Singer Clint Niosi is Grateful for his Boring Job

Fort Worth singer-songwriter Clint Niosi, 33, works in the basement of a community college library doing on-site tech support and on-call tutoring. This does not sound fascinating, and I quickly see upon taking his invitation to meet him at his job that it really isn't. For about a half hour I watc ... More >>

Texas Finally Realizes Where Babies Come From, May Restore Family Planning Money

Last legislative session, your lawmakers in the Texas Legislature cut $73.6 million from the state's family planning budget, a move which, impressively, has somehow resulted in far fewer patients being served, for more money per patient. Don't ask us how they managed that one. As Emily Ramshaw writ ... More >>

Study: By 2030, Six of Ten Texans Will Be Obese

Quick: What day is it today? If you answered Tuesday or September 18, you're technically right but you're actually very, tragically wrong, because it's National Cheeseburger Day which a) exists and b) is a great opportunity to check out a new burger joint. It's also, perhaps, time to reflect on the ... More >>

Kids In Texas Are Worse Off Than Those in Almost Every Other State, Report Says

Governor Rick Perry and the Republican leadership in Austin have made Texas a rhetorical model for the nation, an economic dynamo that has soared despite the federal government's meddling. Our obsession with low taxes, small government and a lean social safety net has led others call us the best sta ... More >>

Lewisville Company Pays $5.2 Million to Settle Claims That it Bribed Mexican Government

A local medical device maker agreed yesterday to pay $5.2 million to settle a charges that it systematically bribed officials to win sales contracts with government hospitals in Mexico in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to a complaint filed by the SEC, Promeca, the Mexican ... More >>

GOP Arguments Against Obamacare Leave Me Empty-Handed

So I'm doing a this-hand versus that-hand thing in my head on Obamacare. Everybody says the Republicans are going to make this year's presidential election a referendum on the Affordable Care Act. I just want to be ready. On the one hand, Affordable Care will encourage tons of poor people and young ... More >>

Doctor Accused of $375 Million Medicare Fraud Decides He Won't Practice Medicine Anymore

You might remember Dr. Jacques Roy. Back in February, the feds fingered him as the leader of one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in history, alleging that he bilked the federal government of nearly $375 million. To recap: Between 2005 and 2011, Roy referred more than 11,000 individual patient ... More >>

Texas Insurance Companies Waste More Money Than Any State's -- But You May Get Some Back

If you are one of the 18 million or so Texans who have health insurance, you may find something unusual in your mailbox this summer: an envelope from your insurance company stuffed with cash or, more likely, a check. That's when the provision of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) will requ ... More >>

Booze Hounds

Planned Parenthood Director Turned Pro-Life Superstar Is Suing PP For Alleged Medicaid Fraud

As long as we're on the general theme of "unpleasant events that are somehow related to the Medicaid Women's Health Program," let's throw this one in there too: Abby Johnson, who was until a couple of years ago the director of a clinic that was part of Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast, is now su ... More >>

Before He Talks to Council, Meet Frank Luntz

Perhaps by now you've seen Rudy Bush's item about Frank Luntz, one of two speakers lined up to address the city council at its Arboretum retreat today. Among pols and media folks, Luntz is a pretty well-known guy -- after all, he's the man who, in 2003, told George W. Bush to start referring to "glo ... More >>

Dollar Signs and EKG Lines: Dallas Heart Disease Study "Striking" For Poor Young People

​We hear a lot about income inequality these days, as we do about our collectively clogged arteries. But it's less often that we're reminded of how one affects the other. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal does just that, tracking the connection between cardiac arrest and ... More >>

It's You or the Dog

Dallas Attorney Predicts Obama's Health Care Act Will Be Good for ... Local Real Estate

Homeland Security Affairs​Attorney Lew Lefko, a partner in Renaissance Tower-based Winstead PC, has worked in some aspect of the health-care profession for most of his career. Hence his appearance on GlobeSt.com this morning, where he tells Jennifer Duell Popovec that Texas stands to gain plenty f ... More >>

Old Folks

AARP's president visits Borders