What percentage of providers accept Medicaid?

Asked by: Miss Hailie Hintz  |  Last update: July 8, 2025
Score: 4.2/5 (69 votes)

Prior MACPAC analysis, using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), found that physicians were less likely to accept new patients insured by Medicaid (70.8 percent) compared to those with Medicare (85.3 percent) or private insurance (90.0 percent).

What percentage of US doctors accept Medicaid?

The percentage of physicians accepting new Medicaid patients (68.9%) was lower than the percentage accepting new Medicare (83.7%) or new privately insured (84.7%) patients.

Do most providers accept Medicaid?

This gap was much larger in some states than others. For example, in New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana, and California, physicians were more than 30 percentage-points less likely to accept new patients with Medicaid coverage than those with private insurance.

How widely is Medicaid accepted?

In 2021, MACPAC found physicians were less likely to accept new Medicaid patients (74%) than those with Medicare (88%) or private insurance (96%), but these rates may vary by state, provider type and setting.

What percentage of Americans use Medicaid?

Of the subtypes of health insurance coverage, employment-based insurance was the most common, covering 53.7 percent of the population for some or all of the calendar year, followed by Medicaid (18.9 percent), Medicare (18.9 percent), direct-purchase coverage (10.2 percent), TRICARE (2.6 percent), and VA and CHAMPVA ...

Providers that accept Medicare and Medicaid patients

38 related questions found

What percent goes to Medicaid?

The FMAP for fiscal year 2025 ranges from a minimum of 50 percent in wealthier states such as California to 77 percent in poorer states such as Mississippi.

What are the disadvantages of having Medicaid?

Disadvantages of Medicaid
  • Lower reimbursements and reduced revenue. Every medical practice needs to make a profit to stay in business, but medical practices that have a large Medicaid patient base tend to be less profitable. ...
  • Administrative overhead. ...
  • Extensive patient base. ...
  • Medicaid can help get new practices established.

Why do people disagree with Medicaid?

Liberals view Medicaid as diverting the Nation's attention from the need for national health insurance. They are troubled by the fact that the program covers less than one-half the Nation's poor and that there are substantial variations in State Medicaid programs.

What percentage of hospitals accept Medicaid?

In fact, 96% of hospitals have 50% of their inpatient days paid by Medicare and Medicaid, and more than 82% of hospitals have 67% Medicare and Medicaid inpatient days.

How many states do not accept Medicaid?

To date, 41 states (including DC) have adopted the Medicaid expansion and 10 states have not adopted the expansion. Current status for each state is based on KFF tracking and analysis of state expansion activity.

Can doctors refuse to accept Medicaid?

When uncovered costs become too great, physicians are ethically justified in refusing to accept Medicaid patients, according to Sade. “If they do accept such patients, however, they are ethically obligated to offer them the same care as they do for all of their patients,” Sade says.

Who is the largest payer of Medicaid?

Medicaid is the largest single payer of maternity care in the U.S., covering more than 40% of U.S. births and playing a critical role in ensuring healthy moms and babies. Medicaid accounts for 75% of public family planning dollars, every $1 of which saves Medicaid $7.09.

Who is the largest Medicaid provider in the US?

Today, Centene is the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the nation serving 13.1 million members, and a leader in California, Florida, New York, and Texas, four of the largest Medicaid states.

Why do so few doctors accept Medicaid?

One reason is that reimbursement rates for Medicaid are lower than for Medicare or commercial insurance. Another (often overlooked) factor, however, is physician's risk of payment denials and the administrative hassle they face trying to get reimbursed by Medicaid.

Do a lot of doctors accept Medicaid?

Nearly 70% of physicians accept new Medicaid patients.

SOURCE: Hing et al., “Acceptance of New Patients with Public and Private Insurance by Office- based Physicians: United States, 2013,” NCHS Data Brief, No. 195, March 2015, CDC, USDHHS.

Which state uses the most Medicaid?

California has more Medicaid and CHIP enrollees than any other state in the United States.

Does Medicaid cover 100% of hospital bills?

What Medicaid Covers. Once an individual is deemed eligible for Medicaid coverage, generally there are no, or only very small, monthly payments, co-pays or deductibles. The program pays almost the full amount for health and long-term care, provided the medical service supplier is Medicaid-certified.

Do doctors get paid less for Medicaid patients?

Summarizing, we do find corroborative evidence (admittedly based on physician self-reports) that both Medicare and Medicaid pay significantly less (e.g., 30-50 percent) than the physician's usual fee for office and inpatient visits as well as for surgical and diagnostic procedures.

What does Medicaid not cover?

Though Medicaid covers a wide range of services, there are limitations on certain types of care, such as infertility treatments, elective abortions, and some types of alternative medicine. For example, the federal government lists family planning as a mandatory service benefit, but states interpret this differently.

What is the drawback of Medicaid?

One of the most serious problems with understanding the Medicaid program is that it is not a single program, but rather an umbrella program that has several components serving vastly different populations that have in common the sole misfortune of having insufficient income to meet their health care needs.

What is the main problem with Medicaid?

But it has been difficult to launch and sustain managed care under Medicaid: Program design has been complicated and time-consuming, and administrative costs are higher, at least in the initial stages (Freund et. al., 1989; Spitz and Abramson, 1987). The Federal waiver process has been cumbersome for many States.

Which 10 states have not expanded Medicaid?

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was enacted in 2010, but 10 states have not expanded Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care for low-income people. They are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Why don't people like Medicaid?

Republicans also generally don't like Medicaid. They see it as program that primarily serves Democratic voters (there are about 20 million Republicans on Medicaid), and as a form of welfare with little difference from cash assistance, and not as health coverage.

Is it better to have Medicaid or private insurance?

Medicaid provides more comprehensive benefits than private insurance at significantly lower out-of-pocket cost to beneficiaries, but its lower payment rates to health care providers and lower administrative costs make the program very efficient.

How much does Medicaid cost per month?

Amounts. Most states adjust premium amounts by beneficiary income, with approved possible charges ranging from approximately $5 to $74 per month. Four states (AR, AZ, MI, and MT) have approved waivers to require monthly premium payments as a percentage of income.