A poll last March by the Texas Medical Association found that if Medicaid fees were cut by 1-2 percent, 24 percent of physicians said they would drop all Medicaid patients and 45 percent said they would limit the number of Medicaid patients they see.
About 15,000 of 48,700 practicing physicians in Texas were active in Medicaid in HHS’ latest count. While many Texas physicians may not follow through on their threat to bail out of Medicaid this fall, more Medicaid cuts are coming. Texas agencies will have to identify an additional 10 percent in budget cuts in the next two-year budget cycle.
Except for a slight uptick in 2007, when reimbursements rose due to the settlement of a class-action lawsuit, physician participation in Texas Medicaid has been steadily eroding for the past 20 years.
At a time when the nation is gearing up for an influx of 16 million new Medicaid patients in 2014, even many physicians still in the Texas Medicaid program have been limiting their involvement. The Morning News contacted 30 local physicians offices randomly selected from a state list of Medicaid HMO providers and found only 14 were taking new Medicaid patients.
A recent study by Merritt Hawkins & Associates found selected specialties in Dallas had a Medicaid acceptance rate of 38.6 percent, the lowest of 15 major U.S. metropolitan areas surveyed.
Read the Dallas Morning News report on Medicaid.
Read more Becker’s coverage on Medicaid.
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