.png)
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
STATE CAPITAL HIGHLIGHTS
The window for signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act is now open through Jan. 15, with most Texans expected to pay considerably higher premiums, The Texas Tribune reported. Federal subsidies that reduced premium rates will expire at year’s end if Congress takes no action.
The government shutdown is now entering its second month. Democrats say they will not vote to reopen the government unless the subsidies are extended. Republicans say they will not consider extending the subsidies until federal workers start getting paid again.
Nearly 4 million Texans signed up for ACA coverage during the last enrollment period, a number that health experts predict will drop by as much as 1 million if the subsidies end.
Most people who choose ACA are not able to obtain employer-sponsored insurance – the most common method – or they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
The nonprofit health policy group KFF projects Texans who now receive the ACA subsidies will see their premiums rise by 115%, or $456 a year, if they are not extended.
PAXTON SUES TYLENOL COMPANY OVER AUTISM CLAIMS
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the makers of Tylenol, accusing Johnson and Johnson of failing to warn women about the potential risk of taking acetaminophen while pregnant, claiming it is a possible cause of autism.
The Texas Standard reported the lawsuit is the first of its kind from a state government. It comes a few weeks after U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discouraged pregnant women from taking the drug.
Paxton, who is running in the GOP primary against incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, said in a statement that “by holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again.”
There are conf licting medical studies concerning the effects of acetaminophen on pregnant women. Brian Lee, a Drexel University epidemiologist who headed one of the largest studies, said that while more research is needed, “The needle is pointing strongly toward there being no causal effect of acetaminophen use during pregnancy on autism.”
Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park.
