‘An understaffed and broken system’: 900,000 Texans have lost Medicaid as others struggle to access SNAP benefits
Texas Democrats in Congress are urging the federal government to audit the state’s Medicaid eligibility system Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/07/10/Seal_Medicaid_04.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/Neelam_Bohra_Headshot_.jpeg)
Neelam Bohra is a disability reporting fellow, covering accessibility issues affecting Texans. Through a partnership with the National Center on Disability and Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and The New York Times, Neelam will spend the 2023-24 fellowship term based in Austin. She has previously reported on labor policy for Politico, national culture for CNN Digital, and covered abortion, COVID-19 and the 2021 winter storm as a past fellow for The Texas Tribune. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and a native of McKinney, Texas, Neelam spent the last year reporting on disability and general breaking news for the Times’ National Desk.
Latest Contributions
-
![Yesenia Alvarado holds her daughter, Medicaid patient Melanie Almaraz, 2, while waiting to see Dr. Alberto Vasquez for treatment of a fever at Su Clinica Familiar in Harlingen, Texas on Jul. 9, 2013.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
Laws have changed around parking for disabled Texans over the years. Here’s how it looks today.
How have new laws changed accessible parking? How are violations enforced? Here’s what you need to know about parking for people with disabilities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/72a54e556d5cf76e06b64881e127d42f/0919%20Disabled%20Parking%20EH%2020.jpg)
![A car with a disabled veteran license plate sits parked in a disabled parking zone outside the Capitol Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Senate Republicans say House managers failed to meet high burden of proof
Democrats, however, said their GOP colleagues “caved” to outside pressure in voting to acquit and return Ken Paxton to his job as attorney general. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/396646529fbed9c1a50eb508fd9324f8/0916%20Paxton%20Trial%20Day%2010%20BD%20TT%2024.jpg)
![State senators file into the Texas Senate to cast their votes on the articles of impeachment on Sept. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas parents who care for their disabled children full time will lose money after pay raise
Texas Medicaid caregivers’ wages were already near the poverty level. But parents whose sole income came from taking care of their disabled children have now lost their ability to work overtime hours. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2722308ad2fd24a012b2d5e89ae32db1/0831%20CLASS%20Sharp%20JS%2002.jpeg)
![Laurie Sharp talks with her daughter, Logan Sharp, in the living room of their Pflugerville home on Sep. 9. 2023. Logan's feeding tube runs in the foreground, which she requires to eat.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
For deaf children in Texas foster care, limited accessibility compounds trauma
Advocates say better accounting of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the state’s care and better access to translators are needed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/997ad14f5acdb851b1b23f26f408b918/Texas%20DFPS%20EG%20TT%2008.jpg)
![A sign for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
“Scared out of my mind”: A family scrambles after their disabled 3-year-old loses Medicaid
When Texas started scrubbing people from Medicaid after a three-year pause on removals during the pandemic, one family lost the insurance coverage that helped provide all treatments for their medically complex child. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f976b114eb362f97adb09e7815f09c12/0727%20Lost%20Medicaid%20EL%20TT%2024.JPG)
![Jodi Whites, 37, talks with her daughter Amelia, 3, outside their home in New Braunfels, on July 27, 2023. “Sometimes people will tell me ‘Oh, she doesn’t look sick’,” said Whites. “I tell them, ‘We paid extra for that’. No, really, this is what four years of Medicaid does for us. If we skip services for too long, the greater the chance she will relapse.”]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Confusion and stress abound for 500,000 Texans bumped from Medicaid
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. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2ef873cf3cc0d4c17309fb69791b55e5/0720%20Medicaid%20Folo%20DSJr%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Maricela Delcid of ECHOS listens to a client as she begins the intake process at the E.C.H.O.S office in Houston on Thursday, July 20, 2023.]()
Credit: Douglas Sweet Jr. for The Texas Tribune -
“Left out of the conversation”: Transgender Texans feel the impact of state’s restrictive abortion law
While Texas’ controversial abortion law strictly refers to women in its phrasing, it also limits access to the procedure for transgender and nonbinary people who are able to become pregnant. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0127afe55a1eee9e00d1f248eaf47b5d/Abortion%20Womens%20Health%20Clinic%20JW%20TT%2007.jpg)
![A surgery room at the Whole Woman's Health Surgical Center in San Antonio on March 18, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Texas abortion funds struggle to meet demand for out-of-state abortion assistance
But some Texas nonprofit groups dedicated to paying for the medical costs of abortion say they have more money than patients to give it to — a likely symptom of fewer people being able to access the procedure because of the new law. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5cc198a88399b52bf0adf265123df514/Texas%20Womens%20Health%20Clinic%20JV%20TT%2032.jpg)
![A sign advertising an organization that offers services to abortion patients is on the wall at Whole Women’s Health of Austin on Sept. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Congressional gerrymandering by Texas Republicans cut out the heart of Houston’s Asian community
Asian and Pacific Islander populations surged in Texas over the past decade, but their political power is weakened under new congressional maps. A northwest Houston neighborhood offers a case study in how that was done. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/14d0e1ee7fb05b17717b922a529fbf86/Hyunja%20Norman%20TT%2008.jpg)
![Hyunja Norman poses for a portrait at the Korean Community Center in Spring Branch on Oct. 21, 2021. Norman passionately seeks representation for the Korean community in Houston by voting, education and raising awareness. She believes, “ if we work here, we can do anything or become someone to make American better for all Americans.”]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune