Submitted by james mcniff, Mar 20, 2008 12:55

I work at an academic medical center that invests heavily in assisting patients to enroll in medicaid however i do have concerns about future enrollments..All medical centers must now have in place a financial aid policy to relieve the financial obligations of those patients with limited income..My concern is that patients and providers will extend charity care to those patients who could have been eligible for medicaid..It takes time and effort to assist patients through this process so the course of least resistance may take over..All our good efforts could result in untended consequences where less patients apply for medicaid therefore preventing them from getting all the services they need..isn't it much easier to show up in an emergency room and not have to pay the bill than to complete a medicaid application?..giving charity in the medical center doesn't insure that prescription and doctor vists will be given as charity..communities and social agencies need to educate patients that charity should be second to enrolling in medicaid..medical centers must have incentives to invest in this process..and the state and city need to streamline the process to remove barriers from enrolling..let's do what is right for the patient for the long term..

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.