Medicaid Access Issues in the News Again

For those who have not seen it, The New York Times highlighted the serious access issues for Medicaid beneficiaries in yesterday’s paper. Kevin Sack did a great job of sharing some of the struggles beneficiaries, including children, are facing getting health care. He explains that low reimbursement is forcing many physicians to limit or stop taking patients on Medicaid. They are doing this because the low reimbursement is threatening the financial viability of their practices. The challenge in finding and keeping a physician when you are on Medicaid can be devastating, as Sack outlines in his article. This is a big issue for children because Medicaid is the single largest insurer for children and provides coverage for one out of every four children in our country.

The good news is that this just may be an issue that has bipartisan support. The Republican leaders have highlighted it as an issue to be addressed and now President Obama included it in a list of changes he would like to see as part of health reform. The House version of the health reform bill included an increase in Medicaid reimbursement for certain evaluation and management codes to Medicare levels.  This increase could help bring Medicaid in line with Medicare for many services. We hope to see this provision included in the package that is expected to be voted on this week. This would, indeed, be a step in the right direction.