Socialism is bad...unless I can benefit from it.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

To be fair, most of the folks who support Medicaid expansion don't directly benefit from it. It only impacts a small percentage of the uninsured working poor who make too much to presently qualify.

to be fair, even if this impacts you, statistics show you are much less likely to vote for it or politicians that support it. Much less likely to vote, period.

I'm torn by this. Part of me is happy that extra people will be covered by insurance. Part of me is not because Medicaid is so freaking expensive to manage (and is full of beuracratic nightmares).

I know this is supported by federal money but US taxpayers are still paying for this coverage for individual states. The states love it because Medicaid is one of the big reasons many states have trouble with their budgets every year. Now, Uncle Sam is taking care of part of the problem.

It's nice to expand Medicaid but the ones who are on it already have a hard time finding a physician who will provide their care. Expanding the Mediciad enrollment is only going to make the situation worse. We still take it in the office but our surgery center doesn't take it for our surgery cases......so anyone that needs surgery has to drive hours away. A friend, who is on Mediciad, had to see a dermatologist. None in town would see her. The closest one, she could get in to, was over an hour away and the appointment was three months down the road.

Isn't this similar to doctors who don't accept insurance out of network? In our area, if you want to see a dermatologist it is a 4 -6 month wait for new patients. If you're out of network, you have to travel at least 1 to 1-1/2 hours to see one and still have at least a 3 month wait, minimum.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

Yeah it is kind of similar. But, that may have as much to do with there being a shortage of dermatologists so they can tell insurance companies to "F off" if they want. That leaves the docs, who are willing to accept the insurance, to deal with the population that's left. This creates a huge waiting time. Good part is, if the insurance companies agree to terms with the docs, the waiting situation could change overnight. Unlikely to happen because insurance companies are not in the business of "giving in" unless there is intense public pressure from patients.

Wow, Oklahoma passed it by referendum yesterday (!). Missouri is voting on expansion in 6 weeks. Opposition is collapsing.

Or due the fact that venture capital went on a buying spree and turned dermatology from a medical profession to a med spa sales quota job. My local office went this route. Multiple docs quit (at least one to leave dermatology) and the rest only do insurance appointments one or two days a week and do med spa private pay the rest of the week. Investors now get the profits instead of docs.