Here are five takeaways:
1. Some physicians claim the pay raise will help enhance the state’s medical safety net.
2. Georgia’s state House voted in favor of the pay raise in the fiscal 2017 budget.
3. Next steps entail the Senate and Gov. Nathan Deal vote in favor of the budget. If the Senate and Gov. Deal agree, Medicaid will pay physicians “considerably higher” for primary care and ob/gyn services.
4. If approved, the pay raise will equal that of federal funds. Medicaid presently pays nearly 65 percent of what Medicare pays for the same service, many physicians argue.
5. After facing years of flat reimbursements, many physicians take on less Medicaid patients, or even completely forgo Medicaid patients.
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