Emails, Curtis N. Buckley, public information officer, state Sen. Donna Campbell, March 28-29 and April 5, 2017
9:28 a.m.
March 28, 2017
The intent of the release was to show that 7 out of 10 doctors restrict the number of new Medicaid patients they are accepting as lower reimbursement rates make it cost-prohibitive. This number comes from a 2012 TMA survey of physicians in which 44% said they decline new Medicaid patients, 26% limit new Medicaid patients, and only 31% accept all new Medicaid patients without restrictions.
Source:
file:///C:/Users/s1010af/Downloads/TMA%20March%202012%20Availability%20of%20Care.pdf
Additionally, we have seen numbers as high as 55% of doctors not accepting new Medicaid patients nationally (and 77% in Dallas!), according to other surveys.
Source:
https://www.merritthawkins.com/uploadedfiles/merritthawkings/surveys/mha2014waitsurvpdf.pdf
Please let me know if you have any additional comments, questions or requests. Thanks for reaching out.
Best,
Curt Buckley
Curtis N. Buckley
Public Information Officer
State Senator Donna Campbell, M.D.
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 5:04 PM
To: Curtis Buckley
Subject: RE: Politfact Check
What was the senator’s basis for the lower reimbursements part of her claim?
7:12 p.m.
March 29, 2017
Senator Campbell's experience as a physician and the many conversations she's had with her colleagues was the basis for her claim. Additionally, the lower reimbursement rate is a common reason many experts and studies point to when explaining why physicians either don't accept or place limits on the number of new Medicare patients they accept.
Here is an excellent analysis of the problem Senator Campbell was articulating from a study published in the Journal of Texas Medicine:
https://www.texmed.org/June16Journal/
From the summary of the study:
The ratios of private/Medicare and private/Medicaid varied greatly by procedure type and locality, with the Texas Medicaid fees well below both private and Medicare fees. The discrepancy in payment amounts demonstrates the variation in payment rates among payer sources. The practical implications demonstrate the provider challenges in managing patient mix to maintain a viable practice.
Thanks again for reaching out and let me know if you need anything else.
Best,
Curt
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2017 12:06 PM
To: Curtis Buckley
Subject: Following up
Here’s where our research led: According to the latest Texas physician survey, taken by the TMA in 2016, about four in ten doctors weren’t accepting new Medicaid patients and two in ten were accepting some new Medicaid patients.
From the Texas HHSC, we separately heard that about four in 10 physicians licensed to practice in Texas had a paid Medicaid claim in fiscal 2016 while more than eight in 10 physicians were enrolled with the Medicaid program.
If the senator has other data or comments, let me know soon?
Thanks.
G.
4:46 p.m
April 5, 2017
The data you have pointed to through your research is similar to what we have seen. We are familiar with the HHSC's numbers and believe they do support the overall point that Senator Campbell was making. If only 4 in 10 doctors report a paid Medicaid claim in a given year, that effectively shows that 60% are not accepting new Medicaid claims. While the data percentage Senator Campbell used in her statement does not precisely align with that figure, the point of the statement still holds -- that the Medicaid system is broken in Texas with somewhere between 60 to 70% of doctors restricting the new Medicaid patients they see.