More than a quarter of all doctors enrolled to serve Medicaid patients in 2021 did not serve any Medicaid patients at all while another ten percent treated fewer than 10 Medicaid patients, according to a new Health Affairs study.
Among different types of doctors, primary care physicians and cardiologists were most likely to care for higher numbers of Medicaid patients while Medicaid patients seeking the services of psychiatrists were mostly out of luck.
Many of the doctors who care for Medicaid patients, and especially those who do not, cite reimbursement that is lower than – and often much lower than – what Medicare and private health insurance pay.
With nearly 70 million Americans currently insured by Medicaid, this constitutes a major weak link in the health care system and especially in the health care safety net.
Learn more about so-called ghost doctors and the degree of their willingness to serve Medicaid patients from the Healthcare Dive article “One-quarter of Medicaid doctors don’t actually treat Medicaid patients: study,” which is based on the Health Affairs study “‘Ghost’ Physicians: More Than One-Quarter Of Physicians Enrolled In Medicaid Delivered No Care To Beneficiaries In 2021.”