This posting explores prescription drug coverage under Texas Medicaid, including related spending and trends. Pharmacy costs borne by the state’s Medicaid program increased 90 percent from 2001 to 2011, prompting…
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This posting provides an overview of the national and state dimensions of Medicaid fraud, as well as efforts to detect and eliminate these crimes. The piece will look closely at…
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Administration officials continue to attempt to hobble the Affordable Care Act (ACA), even though neither the Republican party nor Trump officials offer an alternative or replacement. The 1.1 million Texans…
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Most of the Texas Medicaid program is operating through Medicaid managed Care, which has been expanded, beginning in 2011, to cover nearly 94 percent of enrollees. Savings and improved outcomes…
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The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) was established in 2007. Prior to that time, it existed as the Texas Cancer Council, which was established in 1985 to…
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This posting summarizes policy solutions being offered to address the opioid crisis. The American Public Health Association recommends that policy strategies addressing the epidemic must affect both supply and demand of opioids that would be misused and/or abused. Policies are listed in the tables below (Part I), followed by systemic changes that may be helpful in reducing suffering and public expenditures associated with opioid misuse and addiction (Part II). Key stakeholder institutions have issued guidelines on the epidemic and these are briefly discussed in Part III.
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A number of recent events have brought renewed scrutiny to the pharmaceutical industry, threatening fines and increased regulation. This posting explores these events and perhaps a more balanced view of…
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This last week saw Texas health officials testifying to members of the House Committee on Opioids & Substance Abuse that the Texas opioid death rate is rising by 10 percent every year. The most recent year -2015- of data from the Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 1,174 Texans died from what is termed “accidental poisoning where opioids were involved”. US Centers for Disease Control attributes 1,375 2016 deaths in Texas to opioid-related overdoses. Physicians, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, pharmacies, and Medicare and state Medicaid programs are some of the groups being blamed for the crisis, as are addicts themselves. Forthcoming 2017 data on opioid-related deaths reportedly will show even higher numbers of deaths. This posting provides an overview of the crisis and offers some policy solutions that will effectively reduce our reliance on these drugs, regardless of what parties may bear responsibility for the crisis.
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“When exposed to coercion, cruelty, violence, neglect, or rejection, a child may cope with indifference, defiance of rules and authority, or aggression as a self-protective counter-reaction. These defensive attempts to…
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s largest domestic food assistance program, serving about 42.2 million in an average month at a federal cost over $68 billion in…
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