A new report shows more doctors accepting Medicaid patients in the fourth year of coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives this week slated to vote on the law’s replacement.
A little more than half, or 53%, of physicians in 15 large U.S. metropolitan areas accept Medicaid patients among five frequently used specialties, according to a new survey by MerrittHawkins, a unit of healthcare search firm AMN Healthcare, which polled more than 1,400 physicians.
The rate of acceptance is up from a low of 45.7% in 2014, Merritt’s analysis showed. The uptick began as more states in 2014 began to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010 by President Barack Obama. Primary care doctors also received enhanced Medicaid payments in the ACA’s early years as a way to get more physicians to treat the influx of insured patients.
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