California wants to pay doctors more money to convince them to see more Medicaid patients. Medicaid is the government-funded health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. Democrats have greatly increased the number of people eligible for Medicaid in California. But the rates Medicaid pays doctors have not kept up.
Optometrist Hunter Morgan poses in his offices on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Encinitas, Calif. When Morgan bought an optometry practice in San Diego three years ago, one of the first things he did was start accepting patients who were enrolled in Medicaid — the government-funded health insurance program for the poor and the disabled. Just five months later, Morgan said, he had to stop treating Medicaid patients because of the paltry pay.
Just about every state taxes things like hospitals, nursing homes and ambulances to help pay for their share of Medicaid. Since 2005, California has taxed managed care organizations — the private companies that contract with the state to provide Medicaid benefits. “California is pulling every lever of government to increase access to affordable, high-quality health care across the state,” Newsom said in a statement to The Associated Press.
For optometrists, Newsom is proposing to raise rates to match those paid by Medicare, the federal government’s health insurance program for people 65 and older. That could mean California’s roughly 8,000 licensed optometrists would get a lot more money for Medicaid patients — roughly $130 per exam instead of $47.
Newsom already wants to change the tax increase he signed last year, which included $11 billion more to hike provider payments over five years. This year, because of the deficit, Newsom wants to use $8 billion for provider payments over four years. Providers would still get the same increase, but it would expire sooner.
Republicans in the Legislature have criticized Newsom’s plan to raise the tax again. There is “no guarantee it stays in the health care space,” said Assemblymember Vince Fong, a a Republican and vice chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.
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