Raleigh has been busy with issues important to NCMS members for the past several weeks. In this week’s Political Pulse, Thomas Kincheloe and Emma Kate Sowder are both out of the office but still breaking down the new language in the Medicaid expansion bill and where it stands now. They also take a look at how fast it is moving and the likelihood that it could be signed by Governor Cooper soon.
I am in favor of Medicaid expansion but since the hospitals are getting better reimbursement, how about physicians? The fee schedule is terrible and we have been forced to accept a 2% decrease from Medicare how can we get too excited? I guess the banging of pots and pans in NYC for healthcare workers is enough? The fee schedule needs to be corrected or many of us will have to limit the number of Medicaid patients that we see and be forced to disappoint patients in terms of options of treatment since they can exceed our costs( like allergy shot immunotherapy) The managed care companies who now manage Medicaid are dragging their feet and delaying and obstructing payments for our work, adding even more to our administrative costs. Medicaid has become a loss leader for us.