Health News
- As Nurse Practitioners Enjoy Their New, State-granted Authority, The Paducah Sun Looks At The Issue In Far Western Kentucky
Kentucky law has expanded the rights of nurse practitioners, Laurel Black notes for The Paducah Sun: "Local practitioners say the move will provide patients with better access to care, but not everyone in the medical community embraces the idea." The...
- As Health Care Expands And More Providers Are Needed, Pressure Grows To Allow Nurse Practitioners More Prescribing Authority
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News As Kentucky expands Medicaid and implements the Affordable Care Act, more Kentuckians will have health coverage and access to care, worsening Kentucky's already existing shortage of physicians, particularly those...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- Will Illinois Have Enough Family Physicians Beyond 2014?
Do we have enough physicians to care for newly insured patients seeking care starting Jan. 1? Some will be covered by Medicaid; some gain coverage through the insurance marketplace; and others turning 65 join the ranks of Medicare. The Illinois Academy...
Health News
Medicaid expansion brings primary care access to the forefront
The federal health reform law will usher at least seven million more Americans into Medicaid, and as states like Kentucky debate Medicaid expansion, policymakers are struggling with the question of whether there will even be enough primary care doctors to provide care, reports Michael Ollove of Stateline.
The country is already short of primary-care doctors. Although many primary-care physicians would take on new Medicare or privately-insured patients, only two out of three primary-care physicians surveyed in 2011 were willing to accept new Medicaid patients.
Why? Poor compensation is one reason; on average, Medicaid pays physicians 59 percent of the amount Medicare pays for primary care services, reports Ollove. Many Kentucky primary-care providers are also deterred by existing Medciaid problems. Providers report being burdened by a lack of or delayed payments from the new managed-care system.
Congress hopes to lure practitioners to primary care with a provision that raises primary-care providers' Medicaid fees to Medicare levels. This is only a temporary fix, which went into effect at the beginning of the year and will remain in effect for two years, reports Ollove.
The impact in Kentucky remains uncertain. Lawrence Kissner, Kentucky's commissioner for health and family services, says the state?s Medicaid pay raise in 2005 resulted in a 36 percent increase in the number of primary care doctors accepting Medicaid patients, reports Ollove. This is precisely what the health-law authors hope will happen now.
Kentucky is addressing the health coverage issue in other ways. The General Assembly is considering a bill that would repeal a burdensome supervision requirement and encourage more independent physician assistants to remain in Kentucky to serve medically underserved areas.
Although Kentucky already allows nurse practitioners to practice independently, the Medicaid rate increase applies only to physicians who provide primary care services. It does not apply to nurse practitioners, who have been touted as a potential solution to the primary care problem and often provide care in underserved areas of the state. (Read more)
The country is already short of primary-care doctors. Although many primary-care physicians would take on new Medicare or privately-insured patients, only two out of three primary-care physicians surveyed in 2011 were willing to accept new Medicaid patients.
Why? Poor compensation is one reason; on average, Medicaid pays physicians 59 percent of the amount Medicare pays for primary care services, reports Ollove. Many Kentucky primary-care providers are also deterred by existing Medciaid problems. Providers report being burdened by a lack of or delayed payments from the new managed-care system.
Congress hopes to lure practitioners to primary care with a provision that raises primary-care providers' Medicaid fees to Medicare levels. This is only a temporary fix, which went into effect at the beginning of the year and will remain in effect for two years, reports Ollove.
The impact in Kentucky remains uncertain. Lawrence Kissner, Kentucky's commissioner for health and family services, says the state?s Medicaid pay raise in 2005 resulted in a 36 percent increase in the number of primary care doctors accepting Medicaid patients, reports Ollove. This is precisely what the health-law authors hope will happen now.
Kentucky is addressing the health coverage issue in other ways. The General Assembly is considering a bill that would repeal a burdensome supervision requirement and encourage more independent physician assistants to remain in Kentucky to serve medically underserved areas.
Although Kentucky already allows nurse practitioners to practice independently, the Medicaid rate increase applies only to physicians who provide primary care services. It does not apply to nurse practitioners, who have been touted as a potential solution to the primary care problem and often provide care in underserved areas of the state. (Read more)
- As Nurse Practitioners Enjoy Their New, State-granted Authority, The Paducah Sun Looks At The Issue In Far Western Kentucky
Kentucky law has expanded the rights of nurse practitioners, Laurel Black notes for The Paducah Sun: "Local practitioners say the move will provide patients with better access to care, but not everyone in the medical community embraces the idea." The...
- As Health Care Expands And More Providers Are Needed, Pressure Grows To Allow Nurse Practitioners More Prescribing Authority
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News As Kentucky expands Medicaid and implements the Affordable Care Act, more Kentuckians will have health coverage and access to care, worsening Kentucky's already existing shortage of physicians, particularly those...
- Family Physicians Group Objects To Cuts To Primary-care Physician Training Programs; Cites Doctor Shortage, Which Is Worse In Ky.
Facing an already-existing shortage of primary care in the country and state, the American Academy of Family Physicians sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, saying the committee's 2014...
- Doctor Shortage News: Residencies Are Filling The Pond With Primary Care Doctors, But U.s. And Ky. Need An Ocean Of Them
Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the country, only 25 percent of newly educated doctors go into this field, and even worse for the mostly-rural Kentucky, less than 5 percent go on to practice in rural areas, says a study by researchers at...
- Will Illinois Have Enough Family Physicians Beyond 2014?
Do we have enough physicians to care for newly insured patients seeking care starting Jan. 1? Some will be covered by Medicaid; some gain coverage through the insurance marketplace; and others turning 65 join the ranks of Medicare. The Illinois Academy...