Medicaid

Rick Perry Gets Heckled Over His Medicaid Stand

One of the first rules we think Rick Perry opponents should learn is: Let the man talk. Let him ramble on and all you have to do is wait for him to insert his expensively booted foot in his mouth, whether it's something golden like the legendary Oops Moment, or the more run-of-the-mill stuff like c ... More >>

Let's Get Ahead Of Ourselves: Romney Wins, Dies, And Paul Ryan Takes Over? Introducing Paul Ryan's America

For a moment, let's talk fantasy. Let's say Mitt Romney somehow overcomes all of his apparent weakness -- Bain Capital rapaciousness, tax-record speculation, rich-guy aloofness -- and somehow ekes past President Obama in November in one of the narrowest victories in recent American politics. Democra ... More >>

6 Songs for LBJ Day... One's About His Dick

Today is officially Lyndon Baines Johnson Day here in the state of Texas. The late 36th president's birthday was hallowed in his home state after he died in 1973 of a massive heart attack at the age of 64. He would have been 104 today. Johnson ascended to the presidency from the vice-presidency aft ... More >>

Your Gonzo Guide to the Republican National Convention

From cash-hungry strippers to protesters dressed as vaginas.

Bye, Bye Rick Perry: How Ted Cruz Became Texas' Most-Important Republican -- and He's Not Even Elected!

Rick Perry, it's so over. Sure, you've been fun. Hell, you've been great to us here at Hair Balls. Like that time you thought Solyndra, a solar company, was a country? Or, when you applauded George W. Bush for all his work defending us from freedom? Oh, man. That was a good one. And just recently wh ... More >>

TDCJ's 10 Most Terminally Ill Inmates Cost $2 Million a Year to Treat

Jailed offenders with terminal illnesses have a price tag, and the 10 costliest inmates in the state's prison's system totaled almost $2 million in health care costs in 2011. That's a figure quoted by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who tracks such topics as chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Comm ... More >>

Rick Perry's War on Planned Parenthood Suffers Setback

A federal judge has put a hold on Governor Perry's war on Planned Parenthood, in part because he doesn't believe Texas will keep Perry's promise to make up for lost federal funding. Texas, of course, has banned Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving Women's Health Program funds, beginning tomorr ... More >>

Lost Boys

New research demolishes the stereotype of the underage sex worker — and sparks an outbreak of denial among child-sex-trafficking alarmists nationwide.

A Sad East Texas Tale

Lynde Chunn: Hard Luck East Texas Woman Dies On Cusp Of Personal Rebirth

Lynde Chunn: Sing a sad song​(Be warned. In ten years here at the Houston Press, we've seldom come across a story sadder than this one.) Lynde Chunn had a tough row to hoe for many of her 28 years. The Houston-born Caney Creek High School graduate was mentally challenged but had long lived al ... More >>

Mental Cases

Philip Grantham counts on his meds and his MHMRA doctor to stay straight. Too bad Texas is slashing funding.

An Immigrant's Heart

To survive the ordeal of escaping Guatemala, Julia needed a big Heart. But not this big.

Not So Happily Ever After

Shundrekia Edwards desperately wants a little help to get her out of where she is now.

Trying To Connect With Houston's Burmese Community, Via John Glenn

Photo by Mike Giglio​I threw a football at a refugee and demanded to know where she lived.Her voice wavered, and her answer was hard to hear. So I leaned over and cupped my hand to my ear, waving the hand in a circle first, like Hulk Hogan trying to rile a crowd. Apartment 1212, I finally made ou ... More >>

Conservatives Defend Whole Foods While Liberals Boycott

Photo by That Other Paper​Irate progressives are calling for a boycott of Whole Foods after the health food store chain's founder John Mackey came out against Obama's efforts at reforming health care in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last week. After stating his fears about socialized med ... More >>

There's A Whole Ton Of Cases That Might Be Affected By The Allegedly Fraudulent Expert

Photo Courtesy of Montgomery County Sheriff's Office​Last month we reported on the arrest of Matthew Leddy, a psychologist working for the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County. His arrest, for alleged Medicaid fraud and theft, caught our attention because he evaluated de ... More >>

Methodist Hospital Gets Hit For Medicaid Fraud

Seal courtesy DOJUsually when the Justice Department announces the settlement of a Medicaid-fraud case, it's a small-time operation dealing with wheelchairs or even adult diapers.Not today.Today they've nabbed a nearly-$10 million settlement out of Methodist Hospital here for defrauding the federal ... More >>

Houston's Working Class Gets Bumped into Homelessness and Poverty by the Crashing Economy

An already strained system struggles to accommodate a new breed of homeless.

Gloom And Doom For Uninsured Texas Children

Immigration: Luck of the Draw

Some Cubans in Houston find work right away, others languish withoutEnglish skills

Toxic Town: Birth Defects

Critics say contamination from the tie plant caused severe problems for these babies

Swift Meatpacking Plant and Illegal Immigrants

Swift & Company pitted employee against employee when it replaced injured workers with illegal immigrants

Letters to the Editor

Eaten Alive

Rent-to-own stores, pawnshops, payday lenders -- it's hope for sale, with interest

Road Trip

How a mid-list band spent six weeks in an RV, fueled by chili

Getting Out

Too scared to leave her house, Sandy has one last chance: a county crisis team that will come to her

Behind the Happy Face

Labor pains flare in a worker's fight with Wal-Mart

Critical Condition

Expect the Iraq war to worsen the Medical Center's reduction in Arab patients

Fostering Abuse

Did something go very wrong at Gloria and Kenny Rogers’s group home in Brazoria County? Or are they and their kids victims of a power-hungry CPS?

Deal of a Lifetime

Drug addicts can get hard cash to be sterilized or go on birth control. Is it ridding the world of unwanted babies -- or just ducking the underlying problems of abusers?

Getting THMPed

Activists fight the state's plan to slash drug help for HIV patients

Reality Check

Houston is scrambling for psychiatric and emergency medical services. But hoping for better state funding is just another psychotic episode.

Letters

Twin Piques, Fed Up, Gerda's Grief

Beating the Bush

Take one tax rebate, a Houston man advises, and apply liberally

Blind Faith

Luke and Rachel Watson have lost most of their sight. They eventually will lose all motor skills. Their parents are losing sleep -- do the adults tell their kids they're dying of Batten disease?

Mental Lapse

Increasing deficits cause MHMRA to close a new treatment clinic

Hands On

When the sickest of Harris County's mentally ill break down, an ACT team is there to pick up the pieces and put them back together again

Upstairs Down - and Out?

A money-starved mental health treatment unit may die in its infancy

Nowhere to Land

Crisis care for the mentally ill crumbles under the weight of not enough money, too much beauracracy

Methadone Meltdown

Dr. Amos and Cecilia Ozumba ran Houston Maintenance Clinic for four years. Have they finally run it into the ground?

No More Waiting Room

A mother fights for a therapeutic dive for all who need it

Reefer Madness?

Angela took a hit. And CPS took her babies away.

The President's Analyst

All in a Day's Work

Lockheed Martin's welfare-reform efforts have cost taxpayers across the country millions. So naturally, Lockheed Martin has been hired to train and find jobs for the poor in Houston and Harris County.

Bad Deal

John Ballis was a crook. But he expected the federal government to keep its end of a bargain.

Cozy Ties

In the battle to privatize welfare services in Texas, corporate bidders have enlisted some inside help

Days in the Park

Ana's Angel

Jay Hamburger rushed in where others feared to tread ... only to find that no good deed goes unpunished

Passing the Budget Buck

The hospital district gives the county $30 million, it gets a budget back. Good deal.

A Fine Mess

Texas nursing homes do an end-run around the state's penalty system -- again y D.J. Wilson