Texas Talks

Women are paying $350 for a testosterone pellet. The same hormone, in a men’s tube, can last a year for $86.
Texas Rep. Katrina Pierson (HD 33) — former Trump national spokesperson and chair of the House Subcommittee on Maternal Health, Menopause and Access to Evidence-Based Medicine — sits down with Brad Swail on Texas Talks to walk through her Texas Women’s Health Initiative: baseline hormone testing, HRT coverage, physician liability, iron and prenatal access, and why she says doctors now practice insurance instead of medicine.
Pierson spent 14 years in healthcare, including OB-GYN. She filed a menopause-coverage bill in 2025 that never got a hearing. After the FDA lifted the HRT black-box warning, she took a larger package to the Speaker and got interim charges. In this conversation she explains:
• Why she wants insurance to cover physician-prescribed perimenopause and menopause treatment — including testosterone when medically necessary

• The case for baseline hormone testing before women get labeled with depression or anxiety

• Prior authorization, compounding clinics, and telehealth HRT after the black box came off

• Why Medicaid still requires a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and why she wants physicians able to dispense iron and basics in the office

• What she heard in her subcommittee’s first hearing on prenatal nutrition and Healthy Texas Women

• The gap she flagged in HTW: enrollment is up, participation is down

• The next hearing (date TBD) on menopause and perimenopause, including patient testimony at the Capitol
Texas Talks — policy conversations with the people shaping Texas.
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Chapters

0:00 If a doctor prescribes it, why can’t you get it?

0:55 Intro: Rep. Katrina Pierson

2:26 How the Women’s Health Initiative started

4:28 Baseline hormone testing

7:37 Physician liability and testosterone

8:51 The $350 pellet vs. the $86 men’s tube

10:04 Why women use testosterone

11:25 Telehealth HRT and prior authorization

13:34 Iron, folic acid, and standing orders

24:19 The black-box studies and starting HRT early

27:33 Yesterday’s subcommittee hearing

28:28 Physician dispense and rural access

31:32 What Healthy Texas Women actually is

33:04 Enrollment up, services down

35:59 How is women’s health in Texas right now?

37:22 North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator

38:42 Close
#TexasTalks #KatrinaPierson #WomensHealth #HRT #Menopause #TexasLegislature #txlege

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Why is it so difficult to know what healthcare will cost before you receive it?
On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with Patrick Quigley, CEO and co-founder of Sidecar Health, following his testimony before the Texas House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability.
Quigley explains Sidecar Health’s approach to insurance and why he believes greater price and quality transparency, fewer restrictions on where patients receive care, and stronger financial incentives for consumers could help lower healthcare costs.
The conversation explores provider networks, prior authorization, prescription drug prices, clinical quality data and the high cost of delayed care. Quigley also explains how Sidecar’s model rewards members for choosing care that costs less than the plan’s benefit amount and discusses the company’s experience with primary care, mental health services and emergency room utilization.
Finally, Quigley discusses Texas’ healthcare affordability debate and what he would like lawmakers to consider as the state approaches the 90th Texas Legislature.
00:00 — Introducing Patrick Quigley
01:05 — Sidecar Health & the Healthcare Affordability Problem
04:34 — Testifying Before Texas Lawmakers
06:15 — What's Wrong With Provider Networks?
07:43 — Why Patients Don't Know What Healthcare Costs
10:14 — Measuring the Quality of Medical Care
15:58 — Networks, Insurance Companies & Patient Choice
17:20 — How Much Should Healthcare Cost?
20:10 — The Texas Healthcare Opportunity
22:12 — Prior Authorization & Trusting Doctors
23:37 — Access to Care & Emergency Room Costs
26:33 — Prescription Prices & Consumer Incentives
29:26 — Why Healthcare Prices Vary by Location
32:11 — What Should Texas Lawmakers Do?
35:00 — Closing Thoughts

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What is driving rising litigation and insurance costs in Texas—and what does Texans for Lawsuit Reform want lawmakers to do about it?
On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with Ryan Patrick, the new CEO of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, to discuss his vision for the organization and its priorities heading into the 90th Texas Legislature.
Patrick draws on his career as a prosecutor, judge, U.S. Attorney and private-practice attorney to explain why he believes Texas needs to refocus on civil justice and tort reform. He discusses the impact of large verdicts and litigation on insurance premiums, businesses and consumers, as well as TLR’s concerns about medical damages, litigation surrounding commercial vehicles, and the incentives created by the current system.
The conversation also looks ahead to the next legislative session, where Patrick says TLR will pursue reforms addressing medical damages, staged accidents, insurance fraud, liability involving criminal activity, and other areas of Texas civil law.
Patrick also explains how he hopes to lead a new generation at TLR while building on the organization’s three decades of work in Texas.
00:00 — Introducing Ryan Patrick
00:50 — From Prosecutor to Judge to U.S. Attorney
03:18 — Why Patrick Joined Texans for Lawsuit Reform
04:59 — A New Generation at TLR
07:06 — Refocusing on Tort & Civil Justice Reform
09:28 — Texas Courts & the Case for Reform
13:48 — Venue Shopping & Consistency in the Courts
16:40 — Litigation, Insurance Premiums & Rising Costs
19:26 — How Lawsuits Can Impact Small Businesses
23:03 — Medical Damages & TLR’s Next Reform Push
28:32 — Do Large Verdicts Make Texans Safer?
30:34 — When Insurance Becomes Unaffordable
33:04 — How Texas Compares with Other States
40:41 — Staged Accidents & Insurance Fraud
41:36 — Priorities for the 90th Legislature
47:21 — TLR’s Strategy for the Next Session
48:10 — Final Thoughts

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Texas lawmakers are taking a closer look at government transparency, taxpayer spending and accountability at the state and local levels.

On this episode of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail welcomes back State Rep. Cody Vasut, who represents House District 25 and chairs the House Select Committee on Government Oversight.

Vasut explains the committee’s mission and the wide range of issues lawmakers are examining during the interim—from Texas’ public information laws and the growing impact of AI on records requests to education foundations, taxpayer money flowing to nongovernmental organizations, and prosecutorial discretion.

The conversation covers:

Whether Texas' public information laws provide enough transparency

How AI could transform public records requests

Oversight of education foundations and public funds

Taxpayer dollars flowing to NGOs and outside organizations

Prosecutorial discretion and proposals for greater state oversight

The unusual effort by eastern New Mexico counties interested in joining Texas

Vasut also discusses how his previous experience in local government influences his approach to state oversight and what he hopes the committee can accomplish before the next legislative session.

00:00 — Introduction & Rep. Cody Vasut

03:02 — The House Government Oversight Committee

05:26 — Could New Mexico Counties Join Texas?

11:13 — Government Transparency in Texas

15:08 — AI & Public Information Requests

20:15 — Education Foundations & Public Funds

24:02 — Taxpayer Money Going to NGOs

30:05 — Prosecutorial Discretion & District Attorneys

37:23 — What Success Looks Like for the Committee

38:12 — Local Government, Transparency & Taxpayers

42:03 — Closing

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How should Texas prepare its colleges, workforce, tax system, and infrastructure for the state's continued growth?

On Episode 126 of Texas Talks, host Brad Swail sits down with State Rep. Vince Perez, who represents House District 77 in El Paso, to discuss some of the major policy questions facing Texas ahead of the next legislative session. Perez describes his district at the center of the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez region and explains how its location along the U.S.-Mexico border shapes its economy and workforce.

A major focus is higher education. Perez discusses recent interim hearings, Texas' performance-based community college funding system, funding shortfalls facing those institutions, workforce development, and how artificial intelligence could transform the jobs awaiting today's college students.

The conversation covers:

Community college funding and workforce development

Academic freedom and state involvement in higher education

Preparing Texas students for AI and the future economy

Property taxes and how Texas funds state and local government

The massive expansion of data centers around El Paso

Energy, water, tax incentives, and the economic impact of those facilities

Perez also lays out his concerns about the enormous electricity and water requirements associated with new data centers, questioning whether the jobs and economic benefits they generate will justify the incentives and infrastructure demands placed on local communities.

00:00 — Introducing Rep. Vince Perez & House District 77

02:20 — Texas Higher Education & Community College Funding

05:11 — Why Community Colleges Are Facing Shortfalls

09:26 — Can Texas Make Colleges Whole?

11:09 — Higher Education & the Future of Warfare

13:18 — AI, Healthcare & Texas' Future Workforce

15:52 — Academic Freedom in Texas Universities

20:39 — The Fight Over Texas Property Taxes

25:32 — West Texas' Massive Data Center Boom

27:53 — Water, Electricity & the Cost of Data Centers

29:15 — Closing Thoughts

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