Our Health Policy Matters

In my last column, I described Florida’s new Medicaid managed care and previewed a few of its implications. In this column, I look closely at seven problems in the law.   First, Medicaid recipients will be asked to pay $10 per month to participate in the program, and $100 for each non-emergency use of a hospital emergency room.   This will increase Medicaid costs, not lower them.   Charging even $10 a month for Medicaid encourages people to avoid enrolling in the program until they get sick. What they don’t get is preventive care, so their care costs more.   Half of all emergency room visits are “non-emergency,” but the patient doesn’t know this until after he or she gets the diagnosis.   For example, chest pain is sometimes indigestion, but other times, a heart attack. You don’t want someone who might be having a health crisis to delay receiving care because they don’t have $100.   If they do and guess wrong, their care will only cost the state more. ...

In my last column, I described Florida’s new Medicaid managed care and previewed a few of its implications. In this column, I look closely at seven problems in the law.   First, Medicaid recipients will be asked to pay $10 per month to participate in the program, and $100 for each non-emergency use of a hospital emergency room.   This will increase Medicaid costs, not lower them.   Charging even $10 a month for Medicaid encourages people to avoid enrolling in the program until they get sick. What they don’t get is preventive care, so their care costs more.   Half of all emergency room visits are “non-emergency,” but the patient doesn’t know this until after he or she gets the diagnosis.   For example, chest pain is sometimes indigestion, but other times, a heart attack. You don’t want someone who might be having a health crisis to delay receiving care because they don’t have $100.   If they do and guess wrong, their care will only cost the state more. ...