Why do Medicaid recipients use the emergency room? Don’t know about the rest of the country, but in California it’s often because their regular doctor or clinic isn’t available in a timely fashion.
Why is that?
Because California does not pay the true cost of treatment. A cost the state also inflates by demanding lots of paperwork. Paperwork it costs the provider to fill out and which adds to the cost of providing care. Once I asked my pharmacist if it would be cheaper to fill prescriptions without all the paperwork he has to deal with. His response was, “Much cheaper.”
The end result of the whole thing is that many doctors will not see Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) patients. That means those doctors who will see Medi-Cal patients are overworked and usually unavailable in urgent situations.
Since I have weight related diabetes on occasion I have trouble with my feet. Not a life threatening problem, but occasionaly an urgent one. Since my doctor is usually booked up for a few weeks, and seeing some other doctor can take a few days, it becomes necessary for me to go to emergency where I get to wait a few hours for treatment. Better that than waiting a few days as my feet get worse and the situation might actually become life threatening
I must ask, if Medi-Cal recipients were given the money spent on them on a monthly basis for medical care in cash, how much money would California save? A straight cash transaction for medical care, with the state having no role other than to disburse the funds the recipient then becomes responsible for.
Would it be misused? By some, but I expect more people would be responsible than the bureaucrats expect.
So there you have the reason why Medi-Caid recipients go to emergency so often. Not because we want to, but because bureaucracy and unthinking regulation makes it necessary.
