New Findings from Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Describe Advances in Medicare and Medicaid (Primary Care Appointment Availability and…

Managed Care Weekly Digest

New Findings from Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Describe Advances in Medicare and Medicaid (Primary Care Appointment Availability and the ACA Insurance Expansions)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Investigators discuss new findings in Medicare and Medicaid. According to news reporting originating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "In the current debate in Congress over the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the issue of provider access is a major concern. Fortunately, our 10-state audit study published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that primary care appointment availability for new patients with Medicaid increased 5.4 percentage points between 2012 and 2016 and remained stable for patients with private coverage."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, "Over the same period, both Medicaid patients and the privately insured experienced a one-day increase in median wait times. Higher appointment availability for Medicaid patients is a surprising result given the increase in demand for care from millions of new Medicaid enrollees. In this Issue Brief, we summarize our study?s findings, expand on possible explanations, and extend the analysis by examining the relationship between appointment availability and state-level Medicaid expansions. We find that access to primary care increased for Medicaid patients only in states that extended Medicaid eligibility to low-income, nonelderly adults."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Combined, these results suggest coverage provisions in the ACA have not overwhelmed primary care capacity."

For more information on this research see: Primary Care Appointment Availability and the ACA Insurance Expansions. Ldi Issue Brief [electronic Resource], 2017;21(5):1-4 (see also Medicare and Medicaid).

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M. Candon, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Additional authors for this research include D. Polsky, B. Saloner, D. Wissoker, K. Hempstead, G.M. Kenney and K. Rhodes.

Keywords for this news article include: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Health Policy, Insurance Companies, Medicare and Medicaid, North and Central America.