Why don't good Dr.'s accept Medicaid?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the real reason?

I am a Foster parent who is having a hard time finding a good Dr. for my foster children.

TIA.

[Anonymous]

Because Medicaid pays doctors for their work at lower rates than an insurance company or Medicare would. Also, Medicaid billing is far more difficult than other insurance.

If you already work with a pediatrician or family practice for yourself (don't know if you have biological kids) they might be willing to participate for you.

[Anonymous]

Because Medicaid doesn't pay the doctors anything and the paperwork is an absolute nightmare. Also, the billing dept has to fight for months to get paid the pennies on the dollar they will eventually get paid so after years of fighting with Medicaid many practices gave it up. It just became too costly to try to get paid for services so they had to write it all off. But you can ask them. They'll tell you.

[Anonymous]

I used to work for a doctors office and pps are correct. Medicaid doesnt pay out well, doesn't cover much without prior authorizations, and often results in a ton of paperwork for the staff. Masshealth used to deny so many things even with proper documentation and I'd spend half a day filling out appeals paperwork and trying to get a hold of someone at masshealth. Nightmare.

[Anonymous]

You may have better luck with outpatient offices that are affilitated with large university centers. For example, I know that Children's Hospital in D.C. has some clinics in Northern Virginia. Georgetown also does. In Maryland, Johns Hopkins has some outpatient clinics throughout montgomery county. They are more likely to take medicaid than the routine office practice.

[Anonymous]

OP- I'm a foster parent too- but I have actually had pretty good luck finding doctors to take medicaid. As a PP mentioned- the children's hospital clinics take medicaid- I have taken children to specialists there.
What state are you in an what are you looking for (ped? specialist?) and I might have some suggestions for you.

[Anonymous]

Its hit or miss. As a foster parent, you can put the kids on your insurance (often if you are paying a family plan, it doesn't cost you more) and use medicaid as a secondary insurance. You just need an court order within 30 days for medical guardianship (your worker can request one) to submit to your insurance (though often many foster/adoptive parents don't want to).

[Anonymous]

If you're in VA, I believe Virginia Family Medicine does. They're my primary and I love that they accept public and private insurance, treating patients that need the treatment. The office is in Fairfax near Vienna.

But PP is correct, Medicaid reimburses at a much lower rate than private insurance. A lot of it comes down to finding a balance between both types of patients in order to cover the expense of operating a business.

[Anonymous]

Because they don't have to, it's truly that simple. That being said, there are some truly great doctors out there that do.