Low Medicaid fees impair access
Health Affairs
Web Exclusive
June 23, 2004
Changes In Medicaid Physician Fees, 1998-2003: Implications For Physician Participation Despite recent gains, the relative attractiveness of Medicaid patients
has not improved much over the longer term.
by Stephen Zuckerman, Joshua McFeeters, Peter Cunningham, and Len
Nichols
Despite some improvement among primary care physicians in states with the
lowest fee levels, physicians continue to be paid less for Medicaid beneficiaries than for other groups of insured patients, and they are much less likely to accept new Medicaid patients than other insured patients.
States are now dealing with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and will not be in position to raise provider fees greatly, so access for Medicaid recipients may be at increasing risk.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/hlthaff.w4.374v1
Comment: As long as Medicaid remains chronically underfunded, access to
essential services will remain impaired due to a lack of willing providers. Impaired access results in impaired outcomes. By continuing to support a
separate program for low income individuals, we tacitly accept the principle that they are not entitled to the same level of improved outcomes that the rest of us expect.
Most incremental proposals would leave Medicaid in place. But shifting Medicaid patients into a universal program would improve access and outcomes. Shouldn’t we be supporting health care policies that result in improved outcomes?