Medicaid

The base wage for workers who care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is $10.60 an hour in Texas. Lawmakers are considering a raise to $12, but advocates say more is needed.

“Now that we have this coverage, what do we do to make sure women can get it?,” one health advocate said.

Open enrollment ends Jan. 15. Groups including LBU Community Clinic, Prism Health North Texas and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas offer help navigating the ACA marketplace.

Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, revived his proposal for a Medicaid expansion program in case state or federal Republican leaders change their minds.

In the coming weeks, she and other Tarrant County health system representatives will focus their efforts on Austin as Texas lawmakers convene for the 89th legislative session, which will run from Jan. 14 to June 2.

More than five dozen groups — including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Tarrant Area Food Bank — wrote in support of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's request for $300 million to improve processing times for Medicaid and SNAP applications.

The request comes after an audit found Texas improperly billed the federal government for reimbursements related to Medicaid-eligible students.

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.

Group homes serve people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

The Fort Worth-based hospital system says the state's denial of a new Medicaid contract for the Cook Children's Health Plan will hurt the families it serves.

More than 2 million Texans, mostly children, have lost health insurance as the state has redetermined their eligibility for Medicaid coverage.