The Supreme Court recently decided that the federal government may not require states to expand Medicaid coverage. This decision dealt a blow to the expansion of Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Obamacare was supposed to help provide healthcare coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. Good news, some states still plan to offer Medicaid to low income Americans. However, several big problems still exist. Mainly, many doctors are unwilling to take on new Medicaid patients. For example, 40% of Orthopedic surgeons are unwilling to see new Medicaid patients. Moreover, 56% of Psychiatrist were unwilling to see new Medicaid patients.
In addition, 68% of Physicians in general/family practice were less likely to accept Medicaid patients than Medicare or other private insurance. In contrast, only 36% of Psychiatrist accepted new Medicaid patients compared to 62% who took Medicare patients and 62% who accepted private insurance. Providers are already less likely to accept Medicaid patients than patients on other types of health insurance because those claims are paid at a lower rate than other insurance. If you are on Medicaid and need a doctor, we would love to hear from you.
