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A state judge in Travis County indicated Tuesday that he’ll probably block Texas’ plan to sharply reduce Medicaid payments to therapists next week. After two days of testimony on the proposed cuts, state District Court Judge Tim Sulak announced he’s inclined to grant several home-care companies’ request that he stop the new rates from taking effect Oct. 1. (Garrett, 9/22)

Deep cuts to a therapy program for poor and disabled children will not take effect Oct. 1, a state district judge ruled Tuesday afternoon — the second such delay in recent weeks. (Walters, 9/22)

A Travis County judge said Tuesday he will block the state from cutting $350 million in Medicaid funding scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1. After two days of testimony, state District Judge Tim Sulak said the cuts represented an “imminent and irreparable injury” to children with disabilities. Parents told the judge the cuts would put their children’s therapy providers out of business. (East, 9/22)

When Texas lawmakers drafted a budget for the next two years that included deep cuts to therapy services for poor and disabled children, they ordered state bureaucrats to perform a tricky balancing act: figure out how to slash payments to therapists, but consider sustaining “access to care” while doing so. The state's Health and Human Services Commission, charged with pulling off the feat, admitted in court on Monday that it did not study how the program cuts it came up with will affect children’s access to medically necessary therapy treatments — and appeared to place the blame for that on Texas A&M University. But Tuesday, representatives for the university denied the state’s account, saying Texas A&M researchers were never told to study access to care at all. (Walters, 9/22)