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NC Medicaid Expansion: More Consumers, Not More Providers!
Republican-run Congress passed Medicaid expansion today, March 23, 2023.
Today North Carolina took a commendable step forward in healthcare by expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income individuals. Now there are 10 States that have not expanded Medicaid. This decision will provide much-needed healthcare coverage to over 600,000 people in the state who previously did not have access to affordable healthcare. North Carolina has 2.9 million enrollees in traditional Medicaid coverage. Advocates have estimated that expansion could help 600,000 adults. In theory. On paper.
As a legal professional, I commend the North Carolina lawmakers for making this decision. The expansion of Medicaid will go a long way in improving the health and wellbeing of North Carolinians. It is well known that access to quality healthcare is critical for people to lead healthy and productive lives. By expanding Medicaid, the state is taking a proactive step towards ensuring that its citizens have access to the healthcare they need.
However, it is important to note that despite this expansion, many healthcare providers still do not accept Medicaid due to low reimbursement rates and regulatory burdens. This is a major issue that must be addressed if the benefits of the expansion are to be fully realized.
According to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid patients often face significant challenges in accessing healthcare services due to a shortage of healthcare providers who accept Medicaid. In North Carolina, as of 2021, only 52% of primary care physicians accept Medicaid patients, while only 45% of specialists accept Medicaid patients. 600,000 North Carolinians will get a Medicaid card. A card does not guarantee health care services. See blog.
One area that has been severely impacted by the shortage of Medicaid providers is dental care. According to the American Dental Association, only 38% of dentists in the United States accept Medicaid patients. This has led to many low-income individuals going without essential dental care, which can lead to more serious health issues down the line. Remember, Deamante Driver? See blog.
Another area that has been impacted by the shortage of Medicaid providers is nursing homes. In many cases, nursing homes that accept Medicaid patients struggle to find healthcare providers willing to provide care to their residents. This can lead to residents going without essential medical care, which can have severe consequences.
Specialists are another area where the shortage of Medicaid providers is particularly acute. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 45% of specialists accept Medicaid patients. This can be especially challenging for patients with complex medical needs, who often require specialized care.
The shortage of Medicaid providers is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted solution. One approach is to increase reimbursement rates for healthcare providers who accept Medicaid patients. This would incentivize more healthcare providers to accept Medicaid patients, thereby increasing access to healthcare services for low-income individuals.
Another approach is to reduce regulatory burdens for healthcare providers. This would make it easier for healthcare providers to participate in Medicaid, thereby increasing access to healthcare services for low-income individuals.
These statistics highlight the urgent need to address the issue of low reimbursement rates and regulatory burdens faced by healthcare providers. If more providers are incentivized to accept Medicaid patients, more people will have access to the care they need, and the benefits of the expansion will be fully realized.
In conclusion, North Carolina’s decision to expand Medicaid is a significant step forward in healthcare, and it should be applauded. However, it is crucial that policy change to incentivize providers to accept Medicaid. From dental care to nursing homes and specialists, low-income individuals who rely on Medicaid face significant challenges in accessing essential healthcare services.
As the 31st State Expands Medicaid: Do We Need to Be Concerned About a Physician Shortage?
Recently, Montana became the 31st state, including D.C., to expand Medicaid. Discussion regarding Medicaid expansion is ongoing in one state: Utah. Nineteen (19) states have rejected Medicaid expansion, including NC.
When Medicaid expansion was first introduced, it was a highly polarized, political topic, with Republican governors, generally, rejecting expansion and Democrat governors, generally, accepting expansion.
Now, however, many Republican governors have opted to expand Medicaid. There are currently 31 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and one independent that hold the office of governor in the states. Yet, 31 states have expanded Medicaid. Here is an extremely, difficult-to-read chart outlining the states that have opted to expand, those that have opted to reject expansion, and the one state (Utah) still discussing:
I know, it’s hard to read. Feel free to go to the actual Kaiser website to see the chart readable by humans. (Microsoft’s “Snipping Tool” leaves much to be desired; Apple’s “Screen Shot” is much better, in my opinion).
An interesting fact is that, in its first week with Medicaid expansion, Montana had over 5,500 people sign up for Medicaid.
Another interesting fact is that, approximately 18,078 physicians graduate from medical school in America per year. But in Montana?
N/A…as in, none. Not applicable. You see, Montana does not have a medical school. It does participate in the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho collaborative program. However, the collaborative program does not do a stellar job at recruiting physicians to Montana. It tries. But the statistics are stacked against Montana.
“Sixty-eight percent of doctors who complete all their training in one state end up practicing there,” according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Yet Montana has no medical school. And expanded Medicaid. If any of you ever took economics, there is this accepted theory called, “supply and demand.”
Supply and demand dictates that, when supply is low and demand is high, the product, whatever it is, can be sold at the highest price. Medicaid expansion, however, is creating an anomaly. Medicaid expansion expects a higher demand to meet the lower supply without increasing the reimbursement rates. This is a fundamental flaw in Medicaid expansion. If, on the other hand, Medicaid expansion was premised on an increase in reimbursement rates, we may see an uptick in supply. When demand is high and supply is low, many people “demanding” get nothing.
Let’s think about how many patients each primary care physician can handle.
“According to a 2013 survey by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the average member of that group has 93.2 “patient encounters” each week — in an office, hospital or nursing home, on a house call or via an e-visit. That’s about 19 patients per day. The family physicians said they spend 34.1 hours in direct patient care each week, or about 22 minutes per encounter, with 2,367 people under each physician’s care.” See article.
“The baseline projections from BHPr’s physician supply and requirements models suggest that overall requirements are growing faster than the FTE supply of physicians (Exhibits 51 and 52). Between 2005 and 2020, requirements are projected to grow to approximately 976,000 (22 percent), while FTE supply is projected to grow to approximately 926,600 (14 percent). These projections suggest a modest, but growing, shortfall of approximately 49,000 physicians by 2020 if today’s level of health care services is extrapolated to the future population. ” See article.
This is not the first time I have noted the increasing physician shortage with Medicaid expansion. There is a huge difference in giving someone a Medicaid card and providing a person with quality health care. A card is a piece of paper. If you cannot find a physician..or psychiatrist…or pulmonologist….or neurosurgeon who will accept Medicaid, then your Medicaid card is simply a piece of paper, not even worth the paper upon which it is printed. See blog. And blog. And blog.
The same can be said with the shortage of dentists. See blog.
With a shortage of approximately 49,000 physicians in 2o20, I pray that I am not holding a Medicaid card.
If I am, I will be another victim of high demand with low supply.
