Monterey, CA Medi-Cal Patients Prefer Hospitals To Doctors Offices

View From A Nonprofit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California A new study published in the Journal Health Affairs, shows that the perceived quality of care at providers accepting insurance from low-income residents (such as Medi-Cal) needs to be improved.  Unfortunately, many on Medi-Cal continue to go to hospitals when they need medical care, bypassing traditional preventative care because they don't feel they will get the care that they need.  Respondents in the study said that they trusted hospitals to give them a speedy diagnosis and better quality of care than they would receive from a physician in a traditional setting.  "These patients eloquently explain to us how we have built a health care system that incentivizes them to wait and get sick in order to get care that is more costly to society,:" study author Davide Grande told USA Today.  One issue is that reimbursement rates are so low that few doctors take Medi-Cal.  And even if you can find one that accepts this insurance it's likely to be difficult to get an appointment and it could be in a rushed setting.  Doctors simply need to take more patients to make ends meet.  This problem needs to be fixed as even more California residents are going to be added to the Medi-Cal roles in coming years due to health care reform. 

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.