Medicaid patients have difficulty finding doctors

Patients in Erie County say it is difficult to find doctors--especially dentists--who accept Medicaid. (Source: "Medicaid malaise: It's harder to find a doctor" Sandusky Register, Oct. 23, 2007.) "Officials at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services say they are aware of the problem, although statistics suggest the situation in Erie County is getting better." The shortage may be tied in with health care provider complaints that Medicaid payments fall far short of the actual cost of providing medical services; in an attempt to fix this, the new two-year state budget hikes payments to physicians by 3 percent each year. However, experts aren't sure this will ease the difficulty Medicaid patients have in finding physicians because, starting Jan. 1, 2008, Ohio Medicaid will begin covering children in families that make up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. "As more families are added to Medicaid, the pressure to find doctors and dentists willing to treat them will increase."