Federal Lists of Medicaid Doctors Are Inflated By 100%

Federal investigators discovered that half of doctors listed as participating in the Medicaid health plan were unavailable; more than one third did not even practice at the address that was given and could not be found.  Another eight percent who were at the listed address said they did not participate in Medicaid at all.  Eight percent participated in Medicaid but were not taking new patients.

This revelation is not really news to the millions of Medicaid patients all over the country who cannot find a doctor to treat them.  It is, however, a confirmation that the Medicaid “system” of provider enrollment is broken.  The lists that have been created and sent out to prospective patients are riddled with errors and omissions.  The median wait time for an appointment with a doctor who was accepting Medicaid was two weeks.  The director of managed care plans for the federal Medicaid agency claimed to be “developing new rules and standards” but it is unclear what effect this will have on the dismal state of the official lists of medical providers.

Read the New York Times article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/us/politics/half-of-doctors-listed-as-serving-medicaid-patients-are-unavailable-investigation-finds.html