Currently, 30 percent of office-based physicians are not accepting new Medicaid patients, with the rate at 44 percent for orthopedics. The report also noted physicians in high-income areas are less likely to accept new Medicaid patients, and physicians who do accept them often limit the number they’ll see.
Author of the article Lawrence P. Casalino, MD, PhD, argues, “There is a fundamental reason why physicians should strongly consider providing care for at least a reasonable number of Medicare patients. It is a core professional principle that physicians should put the patient’s interest first; refusing care for vulnerable, socioeconomically disadvantaged Medicaid patients seems incompatible with this perception.”
Additional arguments Dr. Casalino makes for accepting Medicaid patients include:
• Diverting these non-emergent patients away from the emergency departments and allow emergency room physicians to focus on emergencies.
• More participation in the program could drive the need for more reasonable payment rates and less administrative burdens.
• Additional physicians seeing Medicaid patients would make wait times shorter.
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