OK Docs Concerned Over Medicaid Expansion
So ... Just who are these new government-funded patients supposed to see?
The Oklahoma State Medical Assn. has concerns about adding 200,000 residents to the state's Medicaid rolls in 2014 and intends to work with the governor to assess whether such an expansion makes sense.
Part of the challenge is determining who these new patients are going to see for their care, said Kenneth King, the association's executive director. The U.S. Census Bureau has ranked Oklahoma 50th in the nation in terms of physician-to-patient ratio, King said. With the work force already stretched to the limits, physicians barely are able to see the patients they have now, he said.
"One of the things we want is to have a dialogue with our governor on how the expansion [is] going to work," he said. "It's pretty cynical to say, 'Yes, you've got coverage, but you can't see a doctor for two years.' So we're worried about the work force issue."
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?