Weekly Article: Medicaid and ED Utilization

Originally sent by Shilpa


States are developing strategies to reduce health care costs as their budgets shrink and the number of people on Medicaid increase.  One way many states are doing this is by focusing on ED use by Medicaid beneficiaries.  Most of you are aware that states are moving to cut back on urgent care reimbursement as one way to reduce 'unnecessary' ED utilization.  Drs. Chamberlain and Morrison have been proactively working with DC Medicaid prior to cuts in DC.

For my EMTC article of the week, I chose a perspective piece by Drs. Kellerman and Weinick on Washington State's December 2011 proposal to stop paying for approximately 500 pre-identified 'unnecessary' ED visits for Medicaid beneficiaries.  They offer some background and discuss the implications for emergency departments and most importantly health care access for the "poorest of the poor."

Happy Reading!  It's a short and important read.