Survey Says a Third of Doctors Won't Treat New Medicaid Patients

Health Affairs, a medical-news journal, recently published the results of a survey that aimed to find out how well accepted new Medicaid patients are. The study, conducted in 2011 of doctors by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), showed that 69 percent of doctors in the United States accept new Medicaid patients. The survey, however, also discovered that acceptance is not uniform, varying greatly from city to city and state to state.

That might ultimately prove to be a stumbling block for the newly approved federal healthcare law. The new law is expected to bolster the already-soaring demand for healthcare jobs. Among these jobs are for medical office assistant, registered nurse, pharmacist, clinical laboratory technician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, paramedic, and massage therapist.

According to an article for kaiserhealthnews.org, Health Affairs reported that Wyoming boasts the highest acceptance rate at 99 percent, while New Jersey has the lowest at just 40 percent. Big states such as Texas, California, Florida, and New York reported rates that are statistically similar to the national average.

Sandra Decker, the study author and an economist at the CDC, cautioned that the law’s two-year pay boost may not be able to deliver the expected impact because of its short duration. She noted that despite the pay raise being due in less than five months, she’s unaware of any state that has already bolstered its efforts to recruit Medicaid doctors. This on top of reports of administrative red tape in getting paid encountered by doctors with Medicaid patients.

At any rate, the physicians’ participation in Medicaid will be seen as an important barometer of patients’ access to care—and a crucial gauge for success for the newly minted healthcare law.

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