Doctors warn against Medicaid cuts

Joanna Moreno

Contributing Writer

The Medical Society of Virginia is urging the General Assembly not to cut support for Medicaid in the state budget.

Dr. Daniel Carey, the society’s president, said doctors might have to reduce the number of Medicaid patients they see – or stop taking Medicaid patients entirely – if legislators approve proposed cuts in Medicaid.

“This is not a decision any physician wants to make,” Carey said at a press conference.

A recent survey by the medical society showed that:

  • A 5 percent cut to Medicaid would cause 64 percent of physician respondents to reduce the number of Medicaid patients they see or stop treating Medicaid patients altogether.
  • A 5 to 10 percent cut would mean that 75 percent of physician respondents would do the same.

Such reductions would significantly affect the health care that the 780,000 Virginians in the Medicaid program receive, he said.

“We’re not down to cutting fat here. We’re cutting bone and muscle from this program,” Carey said.

Virginia ranks 48th nationally in funding for Medicaid, a federal-state partnership that pays for health care for indigent, aged, blind and disabled people as well as low-income families with children.

Carey said the program in Virginia is underfunded and the proposed cuts would hurt Medicaid patients.

“They have a card that entitles them to care,” he said. “The question is, when are they going to get it, where are they going to get it, and how much is it going to cost?”

If doctors see fewer Medicaid patients, the patients will be forced to use emergency care facilities, Carey said. This would tie up resources for people with heart attacks and other life-threatening conditions.

Dr. Tamera Barnes, who is on the board of directors for the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, said that Medicaid cuts “will start coming to our emergency departments in even greater numbers because we’ll be the only access they have to medical care.”

Overcrowding and longer waiting times would reduce emergency facilities’ ability to give care to patients with immediate trauma, such as strokes or heart attacks.

“While we understand the current budget situation in the commonwealth, we remain concerned about the welfare of our patients and their access to care,” Carey said.

The House and Senate are negotiating on a state budget for the next two years. Lawmakers are trying to close a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.

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