subject: You Can Find a Doctor Who Accept Medicare and Medicaid - Approved Insurance Doctor [print this page] It is very difficult to watch TV or read a newspaper and not be aware of our country's medical crisis. It is even more an issue as our baby boomer population reaches retirement and starts to rely more and more on medicare and medicaid. To most of their surprise it is becoming more and more difficult to find a general practitioner or specialist who will accept medicare or medicaid.
This crisis is occurring because medicare and medicaid have been cutting back on the amount they are willing to pay to the doctors for their services. At the same time they are asking for more and more paperwork from the doctors resulting in more expenses with lower returns.
Another is is that private insurers are no longer willing to subsidize public patients by paying significantly higher rates to doctors, therefore shifting some of the costs to them.
All of this is resulting in a crisis when more and more doctors are choosing not to be a part of the system. There was a time when you just looked in the yellow pages or got a reference for a doctor catering to your specific needs. Those days are gone. More and more doctors are either refusing to accept any new medicare patients or limiting the amount they will treat in their practice. You will now have to search far and wide for a doctor that will accept your coverage.
As a result of fewer and fewer doctors being willing to accept medicare and medicaid more and more patients are looking for government funded clinics or are even resorting to going to emergency rooms when it is not an emergency. It is the law that an emergency room can not turn a patient away because of insurance. If they only realized compensating doctors properly would save money in the long run.
If you are a medicare medicaid patient you can expect to spend long hours on the phone looking for a doctor that will accept your coverage. I suggest you speak to other medicare/ medicaid patients and see what doctors they use. Don't expect to get an appointment quickly. If your health is truly in danger I suggest you do go to an emergency room.
You may also want to check with your local health department or one of the many social service agencies in your area. They may be able to recommend a doctor that will take medicare/medicaid coverage. Just don't give up, taking care of your health is very important as you get older.
You Can Find a Doctor Who Accept Medicare and Medicaid - Approved Insurance Doctor
By: Bryan Burbank
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