New Medicaid enrollees facing access challenges, Fed report says

Federal investigators reported last week that Obama administration and state officials have not done enough to ensure access to care for the growing number of Medicaid enrollees (Source: “For Many New Medicaid Enrollees, Care Is Hard to Find, Report Says,” New York Times, Sept. 27, 2014).

The report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General concludes that state standards for access to care vary widely and are rarely enforced. As a result, it says, Medicaid patients often find that they must wait for months or travel long distances to see a doctor.

The inspector general, Daniel R. Levinson, said federal and state officials must do more to protect beneficiaries’ access to care, in view of the program’s rapid growth. Just since October, the administration says, eight million people with low incomes have enrolled. By 2016, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, one in four Americans will be on Medicaid at some time during the year.