The doctor isn’t in: Medi-Cal patients struggle to find primary care
Poe-Barham is elbow-deep in a legal battle with the
The 68-year-old full-time caregiver has been seeking options for Poe in the event that he loses his current coverage, but she said the physicians in her area were all closed to new managed care patients. The health department's attorney, she said, told her to bring Poe, who is mentally impaired, partially blind and immune-compromised, to the
As
"All the poor people in
The state budget for low-income health programs has been running low since the 2007-09 recession, said
In 2014,
"The ACA wasn't designed to address (the physician shortage) problem -- it was trying to get more of the uninsured covered," Wright said. "There are millions of people for whom
Much of the local outrage about the provider shortage has been targeted at
Since then, about 40 community groups and 160
"They don't think (a
"(Hospitals) are closing their doors ... because the total reimbursement they are receiving is inadequate," she said. "Rates by the state through the
A recent
Seventy-six percent of hospital-based and emergency room physicians said they were accepting new
When a major public entity such as
"There are community health centers, there are other sources of primary care in
She recently began working as an office assistant, and enrolling in her company's health plan has been a huge relief, she said. But her adult son is still on
"The doctors don't want to take
About 78 percent of physicians surveyed by the
Dr.
"Basically, they're asking physicians to lose money in their business for seeing these people," she said. "I work in a small town, and I want to be part of the health care solution for the entire community, not just one piece of community. ... If I could take the financial concerns out of the equation, I would want to see whoever needs to see me. But the current payment structure is making it difficult."
"The size and diversity of
A flurry of state legislation has addressed the
On the November ballot, Proposition 56 would charge a
Coffman said hospitals and community clinics could also increase their capacity with telemedicine and other creative solutions.
"Those are places that have always welcomed
For
"It has been such a long road," she said as her son squirmed restlessly in a kitchen chair. "It's becoming a huge debacle, and it's not working ... the whole thing just doesn't make sense for him."
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