Lawsuit demands immediate fix to Texas' health, welfare programs

Source: By ROBERT T. GARRETT, The Dallas Morning News (TX), Monday, August 3, 2009

Legal services lawyers for the poor have filed a class-action lawsuit demanding immediate repair of Texas' much-criticized eligibility screening system for health and welfare programs.  The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin late Friday by two impoverished Irving women who applied for food stamps more than two months ago but still haven't been interviewed by the state Health and Human Services Commission.

..... Although a privatization experiment launched four years ago drove hundreds of experienced state workers to seek other jobs, the commission has gradually added more staff - some 700 in the past year, Goodman said.