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Texas blocked from forcing 1.5 million people to change health plans

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Texas blocked from forcing 1.5 million people to change health plans


A Texas judge has blocked the state from dropping 1.5 million residents from their health insurance plans.

District Judge Laurie Eiserloh blocked Texas Health and Human Services from approving contracts that would drop millions from the Cook Children’s Health Plan, Driscoll Health Plan and Texas Children Health plans.

These plans were available from south Texas to the Houston area and offered Medicaid STAR and CHIP coverage to predominantly children.

The state’s new $116 billion Medicaid contract proposal was scheduled to remove the three hospital plans, impacting low-income families and forcing them to choose plans under a different provider.

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A hospital bed is seen placed outside the entrance of Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center on June 29, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Millions of Texans were slated to lose health care coverage before a…


Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Eiserloh’s temporary block order comes amid increasing concerns that the new Medicaid options could hurt overall healthcare in the state, especially for the financially needy, who often rely on STAR and CHIP coverage.

“The intended contract awards will impose significant harm and confusion on millions of Texas’ STAR & CHIP members,” Eiserloh wrote in a 10-page order.

In response to the ruling, Cook Children’s Health Care System said this will “help to ensure that our members continue to have access to the care they need, when they need it.”

Cook Children’s Health plan primarily serves Tarrant County families under Medicaid and CHIP.

While CHIP was created for children in families that earn too much to receive Medicaid but too little for private insurance, STAR is available to pregnant women, low-income children and adults.

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“We would like to express our gratitude to the court for their careful consideration of this matter and for their decision in our favor,” a Cook Children’s spokesperson said in a statement. “Cook Children’s will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with all stakeholders to ensure that our Members continue to receive the best possible care.”

Newsweek has emailed the Texas Health and Human Services Wednesday afternoon for comment.

Cook Children’s Hospital originally filed a petition against the head of the Health and Human Services Commission to stop the new Medicaid contracts four months ago. The new coverage options were set to go into effect in September 2025.

“Our families are worth fighting for, and we’re going to continue to fight until the state does the right thing,” Karen Love, president of Cook Children’s Health Plan, said during a press conference in June. “The stakes are too high, and the consequences are too great to have this flawed decision set in stone. We are determined to ensure that it does not.”

Cook Children’s also accused the state agency of giving Aetna an “unfair advantage” by disclosing copies of competitors’ proposals prematurely.

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The trial to decide the overall fate of Medicaid contracts in Texas is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2025, but the state could appeal the ruling or change their proposal before then.

Texas contracts with various managed care organizations, from health insurers to hospital system health plans, to administer its Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

The state has been looking to drop several of the organizations in September 2025, but the new ruling said Texas failed to follow the state code.

Under the new contracts, 43 percent of Texas STAR and CHIP members would have to switch to new health plans.

“So, for the time being, the new contracts are blocked, meaning there are no scheduled changes to the health plan options that STAR and CHIP members can choose,” Louise Norris, a health policy analyst for healthinsurance.org, told Newsweek.

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Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, called the decision a “huge win” for families that have health plans under the three providers.

“Over the past few months, there’s been a building fear that the dropping of these programs from the state would create an absolute mess when it came to not just finding families other plans, but also ensuring the same level of care currently being distributed to these patients would continue,” Beene told Newsweek in an email response Wednesday.

“There’s no guarantee this won’t be challenged legally again, as it very well could be. However, this decision does provide a ray of light to those currently being assisted through one of these providers that the service they’re receiving could continue after September of next year.”

For many, the judge’s block order ensures low to moderate income families have access to care that would otherwise be unaffordable, said Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and the founder and CEO of 9i Capital Group.

“This is a win for many families who would otherwise have to rely on stock-based plans like Aetna or Molina, whose primary responsibility is to shareholders, not patient care,” Thompson told Newsweek via email Wednesday.

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Thompson, who lives in Fort Worth, said the Texas CHIP program and Cook Children’s were a “lifeline” for his family when his son was born at just one pound 13 ounces 13 years ago.

“These programs are built for families that cannot afford private health insurance or need Medicaid support,” Thompson said.



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North Texas middle school closes after a norovirus outbreak

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North Texas middle school closes after a norovirus outbreak


A middle school in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD is closed Friday after an outbreak of norovirus.

According to the school district, they closed Creekview Middle School in Fort Worth on Friday to sanitize and clean the building. The district said they plan on reopening the school on Monday.

The district said children started to get sick on Tuesday with what appeared to be a stomach virus and that on Wednesday it spread to a larger group.

EMSISD said they reached out to the Tarrant County Public Health Department and that they recommended disinfecting and cleaning the school on Wednesday night and reopening the next day.

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More cases continued to be reported on Thursday, so the public health department then recommended that they clean again and close the campus on Friday.

Parents were notified of the district’s decision on Thursday afternoon.

The district has not said how many students and staff were sickened in the outbreak.

Officials with Children’s Medical Center said that because norovirus is highly contagious and resistant to many common hand sanitizers, it presents a unique challenge for families.

The hospital says hand sanitizer isn’t enough and recommends thorough hand washing with soap and water. They also recommend parents keep their children home for a full 48 hours after symptoms stop to prevent further outbreaks.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are approximately 2,500 norovirus outbreaks in the United States each year and that they are most common from November through April. For further tips on preventing the spread of norovirus, visit the CDC.



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Trump heads to Texas, where 3 friends are battling it out in the Senate Republican primary

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Trump heads to Texas, where 3 friends are battling it out in the Senate Republican primary


WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump just can’t seem to choose among friends in the Texas Senate Republican primary.

So when he travels to the state on Friday for his first post- State of the Union trip, where he plans to promote his energy and economic policies, Trump will have all three candidates in the competitive race join him — just days before his party casts ballots in the primary race.

Sen. John Cornyn is battling for his fifth term and is being challenged by state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a primary fight that has become viciously personal. And all three men, missing the coveted endorsement from Trump, have been trying to highlight their ties to him as they ramp up their campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

For his part, Trump will be seeking to ride the message of his State of the Union address from Tuesday, where he declared a return to economic prosperity and a more secure America — two centerpiece arguments for Republicans as they campaign to keep their congressional majorities this fall.

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Trump’s hesitation to endorse in the Texas Senate primary speaks to the tricky dynamics of the race.

Cornyn is unpopular with a segment of Texas’ GOP base, in part for his early dismissiveness of Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and for his role in authoring tougher restrictions on guns after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But Senate GOP leadership and allied groups see Cornyn as the stronger general election candidate, in light of a series of troubles that have shadowed Paxton.

Paxton beat impeachment on fraud charges in 2023, and has faced allegations of marital infidelity by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, is joined by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, during a campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Credit: AP/Eric Gay

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn. They and allied campaign groups argue that the seat would cost the party hundreds of millions more to defend with Paxton as the candidate.

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“It is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee,” Scott told Fox News on Wednesday.

Hunt, a second-term Houston-area representative, was a later entry to the race, but claims a kinship with Trump, having endorsed him early in the 2024 race. Hunt campaigned regularly for Trump and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

If no candidate reaches 50% in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will advance to a May 26 runoff.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas,...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, arrive before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert

Cornyn’s campaign and a half-dozen allied groups have poured more than $63 million into the race since last fall, chiefly trying to slow Paxton but recently attacking Hunt in an effort to keep him from making it to the runoff.

Earlier this month, Trump feinted toward weighing in on the race when he said he was taking “a serious look” at endorsing in the Texas primary. He has since reaffirmed his neutrality.

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Still, you wouldn’t know it from watching TV in Texas. Cornyn has been airing ads since last year touting his support for Trump’s agenda, even though his relationship with the president has been cool at times. Paxton and Hunt both have ads airing now featuring them standing with Trump.

“I like all three of them, actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three,” Trump said earlier this month.

The GOP battle comes as Democrats have a contested primary of their own in Texas between state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who regularly quotes the Bible, and progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Trump hasn’t been shy about wading into other contested Republican primaries in the state. Parts of Corpus Christi fall within Texas’ 34th congressional district, where former Rep. Mayra Flores is fighting to reclaim her seat against the Trump-endorsed Eric Flores. (The two are not related.) The winner of the primary will face off against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, long a target of the GOP, whose district was redrawn to make it easier for a Republican to win.

Eric Flores will be at the Trump event at the Port of Corpus Christi, which technically is located in a neighboring district.

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Elsewhere in the state, the president has also endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is fighting calls from his own party to resign from Congress after reports of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire. Gonzales is refusing to step down and has said that there will be “opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out” and that the stories about the situation do not represent “all the facts.”

Gonzales is facing a primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who Gonzales defeated by fewer than 400 votes in their 2024 runoff. The White House did not return a request for comment on Thursday on whether Trump stands by his endorsement of Gonzales.



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Man sentenced to 15 years in Texas crash that killed founding member of The Chicks

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Man sentenced to 15 years in Texas crash that killed founding member of The Chicks


EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting his reckless driving caused a head-on collision in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said.

Domenick Chavez, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Dec. 22, 2023, crash in Hudspeth County, according to a news release Tuesday from El Paso County District James Montoya, who also oversees nearby Hudspeth County.

The news release said Chavez was driving a truck westbound when he tried to pass four vehicles on a two-way undivided highway and collided head-on with Lynch’s eastbound truck. Lynch, 65, of Dell City, was trapped in her vehicle and died. Prosecutors said Chavez was traveling between 106 mph and 114 mph.

Prosecutors said alcohol wasn’t a factor in the crash but that Chavez was driving on a suspended license, which had been revoked due to his failure to comply with DWI-related surcharges and penalties from convictions in 2014 and 2017.

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Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, formed The Dixie Chicks in the late 1980s. Lynch and Macy eventually left the band and Natalie Maines joined the sisters. The trio hit commercial fame with their breakthrough album “Wide Open Spaces” in 1998 and have won 13 Grammys. In 2020, the band changed its name to The Chicks.

In a social media post after Lynch’s death, The Chicks said Lynch had “infectious energy and humor” and was “instrumental” in the band’s early success.



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