Medicaid: eConsult Patient Benefits

Medicaid and Medicaid recognize the benefits of managed care for patients. Managed Care is vital to our communities and population’s health and well-being. April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and we want to share some important facts about the impact of Medicaid coverage and the benefits telehealth systems can offer—such as an eConsult platform—to provide services to this patient population more effectively.

At a glance:

• Only 41% of specialists accepted Medicaid in 2017 in 15 major metro areas across four major specialties—the same study showed only 33% of dermatology specialists took Medicaid!
• Nearly 35 million children are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, and Medicaid covers 39% of children in America.
• Nearly 1 in 3 seniors live 200 percent below the federal poverty line. For many of these seniors, Medicaid is a critical lifeline.
• Medicaid funds 53 percent of long-term care nationwide. As seniors age, long-term care services become more and more vital, serving half of seniors over age 75 and 75% of seniors over age 85.
• 7 million nonelderly adults with disabilities depend on Medicaid for care. Of this group, only 43% qualify for social security income.
• Telehealth solutions can potentially deliver the benefits of managed care for patients while mitigating barriers to proactive health management for Managed Care populations, such as an insufficient supply of providers accepting Medicaid, inadequate transportation options, and long distances and associated travel time, particularly for patients in rural areas. It also may help dissuade patients’ concerns about confidentiality and stigma, particularly for behavioral health services.