In Texas, 3.5 million Texans — including 1.7 million children — rely on SNAP, also referred to as food stamps, each month.

Lawmakers added $100 million to a child care scholarship program but failed to expand access to free preschool for children with disabilities.

State chapters of the nonprofit group that provide meals to seniors are waiting to hear from Washington how much of a hit their battered budgets will take.

A state employee testified Monday that tens of thousands of people in the U.S. unlawfully were treated, but it was unclear how long the data had been collected.

A new law was meant to uphold standards at homes where substance abusers are trying to rebuild their lives. But compliance is proving difficult.

Most of the infections have shown up in Gaines County. Texas health officials have consistently said that vaccination is the best way for people to avoid the highly contagious airborne disease.

So far, nine HHSC employees have been fired for accessing without a “business” purpose the private information of Texans seeking public assistance that includes Medicaid and food stamps.

Seven human services employees were fired after a string of fraud and theft — and the largest data breach in agency history.

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.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, the state’s de facto foster care czar, has been overseeing the case since 2011.

Texas hasn’t increased Medicaid rates for inpatient health care at private hospitals in 16 years, falling behind other states.

Even excluding deaths related to COVID, Texas’ maternal mortality rate spiked, reversing two years of improvement.

A state Medicaid program pays caregivers of intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals living in community-based homes. Families, advocates and providers want lawmakers to increase that hourly pay.

Texas Health and Human Services could face $100,000-per-day fines for violating a judge's orders. The state wants the judge off the case.

A federal judge has taken the Texas’ foster care system to task for 13 years. Reforms have been made. Now armed with private legal fire power, the state wants the judge off the case.

A doctor says the government wants to punish him for calling attention to wrongdoing. Advocates say the families of trans kids are the ones at risk.

For years, Cook’s Children, two other children’s hospitals have administered Medicaid health coverage plans. Canceling their contracts would put jobs and coverage at risk, they say.

Affected Texans who receive Medicaid coverage would be shifted to new insurers next year if the state health and human services agency sticks to its plan. It’s now up to the executive commissioner to make a final decision.

Thousands of people are discharged from Texas mental health hospitals yearly, and so-called step-down programs like clubhouses can help them integrate back into the community.

Texas has tapped more than $45 million in federal funds to get the overdose-reversing drug into the hands of law enforcement, members of the public. But the program has been plagued by supply issues, delays and lack of communication.

The early release of documents meant a single competitor got an early look at the other bidders’ playbooks before final winners were announced.

Texas’ recent unwinding of Medicaid and CHIP has been criticized, dropping more than a million people eligible for the health insurance programs. Decades ago, Texas officials got kids health insurance in record time.

Staffing shortages and mismanaged care can delay when Texans on some Medicaid programs are discharged from hospitals. This can cost the state more and take a toll on patients and caregivers.

The USDA estimates the families of 3.8 million children could have received $120 per child to cover summer lunches if the state participated in the new $2.5 billion program launching this summer. Texas is one of 15 states opting out.

Texas has booted the most people from Medicaid of any state in the country. A majority of those removed lost their health insurance coverage because of procedural reasons.

Gabe Nolasco was born without a vital immune system gland. His family spent years in quarantines and advocating to state insurance so they could keep him alive.

Inflation, stagnant federal funding for food programs and high housing costs mean that demand at food banks still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Phoenix House is the latest casualty in an escalating funding crisis for Texas treatment centers as the state struggles with startling increases in overdose deaths, particularly among young people.

Continuous Medicaid coverage ended in April. Many of the roughly half-million people stripped from the rolls don’t even know they’ve lost coverage yet.

Advocates are calling for a halt to removals until the state can account for why more than 80% of the people who lost Medicaid coverage were eliminated for “procedural” reasons, like not responding to messages from the state.

A U.S. district judge has long presided over a court case that found Texas’ foster care system unconstitutionally harms kids. Tuesday’s hearing was the first appearance by the state’s new team of defense attorneys.

Their dream of passing a bill to improve access to state services for Texans who don’t speak English or Spanish was dashed. Woori Juntos activists fought until the end seeking at least a study of their ideas.

Texas wants to expand mental health services, but many mental health providers do not accept Medicaid because of its lower payment rate.

In a key step on their quest to make state services more easily available to non-English speakers, advocates from Houston’s Woori Juntos community group testified before a panel of lawmakers.

Texas is reviewing the eligibility of people on Medicaid health plans or Healthy Texas Women now that pandemic Medicaid coverage is ending. Here’s what that means, how to renew your health coverage or find other options if you no longer qualify.

Woori Juntos began the legislative session hoping to win over a majority of legislators to their cause — making it easier for Texans who speak no or limited English to communicate with state agencies and access crucial services. First, they needed a lawmaker to file their bill.

The state has added more beds for jail inmates who need psychiatric treatment to be considered competent to face trial. But at least a third remain empty because the state can’t hire enough people to staff them.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already short supply of therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers.

The infectious disease doctor has been at the helm of the department in an interim capacity since the fall, replacing longtime commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt following his retirement.

As public debate intensifies over how the state will divvy up billions in new money, community groups that treat children for mental illness fear they’re not a priority.

Texas agencies say they are being hammered by a historic staffing crisis, particularly when it comes to those in the trenches serving the state’s most vulnerable populations.

Dr. John Hellerstedt, who has led the Texas Department of State Health Services since 2016, will retire at the end of the month. Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the chief state epidemiologist, has been named his interim replacement.

Created in 2019, the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium identifies distressed students and refers them to mental health services.

The state’s poorest mothers are paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket when they find baby formula because they say they can’t risk waiting for the exact brand and size container covered by Texas’ Women, Infant and Children program.

More children are being treated in Texas hospitals for COVID-19 than ever before, and an unseasonable outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus is adding to the stress on children’s hospitals.

A federal attorney claims an order from Gov. Greg Abbott violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and said legal action could follow if the state carries through with plans to pull licenses from the federally contracted facilities.

State officials knew children were being illegally housed in an unlicensed facility but did not notify the court, despite a mandate from a federal court judge that came as part of a decade-long class action lawsuit against the state on the behalf of foster children.