CMS Proposes Raising Medicaid Payments to Primary Care MDs
Date: 10-05-2012
[MMA News Now, May 10, 2012] On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed temporarily raising Medicaid payment rates to primary care physicians, by bringing them up to Medicare levels.
“This is a very important provision for Minnesota physicians and their patients,” said Janet Silversmith, MMA director of health policy. “The Minnesota Medicaid program has failed to maintain adequate payment rates for physician services, which has caused some practices to limit the number of Medicaid patients they can serve and has placed serious financial strain on some practices.”
In Minnesota, physicians have received only one across-the-board increase in Medicaid fee-for-service payment rates in 20 years - a 3 percent increase in 2000.
The temporary increase in 2013 and 2014 is mandated by a provision of the 2010 federal health care overhaul and would apply to both fee-for-service rates and rates paid by managed care plans. The provision would increase average Medicaid primary care payments to Minnesota physicians from approximately 78 percent of the Medicare rate today to 100 percent of that rate.
“A long-term commitment to reasonable Medicaid payment rates is essential as more Minnesotans become eligible for Medicaid following its expansion in 2014,” Silversmith said. The MMA will work with legislators to continue the commitment to improved rates beyond 2014 so that all Minnesotans have access to primary care services in their community.
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