Higher Medicaid reimbursement for state’s primary care docs

Crains reports:

“Doctors providing primary care in Illinois can get higher Medicaid reimbursement rates through the end of 2014.

Illinois officials are reminding doctors to sign up online for the higher rates, which are expected to increase by an average of 93 percent. If doctors sign up by June 30 they can get reimbursed at the higher rate retroactively to the beginning of this year.

The temporary raise should help increase doctors’ participation in Medicaid, said Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

That’s important because thousands of uninsured Illinois residents will be newly eligible for Medicaid in 2014.

Hamos warned in AprilĀ that there won’t be enough doctors to treat the expected surge of new Medicaid patients next year unless more physicians participate in the program.

The pay increase for primary care was authorized by the Affordable Care Act.”