Despite reports that a growing number of doctors in the Springfield area are not accepting its coverage, officials from Massachusetts’ Medicaid system MassHealth said they don’t foresee the problem spreading to the Boston area.
“Right now we don’t see this becoming an issue much beyond Springfield,” said Richard McGreal, a spokesman for MassHealth’s division of medical assistance.
A large dermatology practice in Springfield decided to stop accepting the Bay State’s low-income health plan because employees did not feel MassHealth provided adequate compensation. This caused a ripple effect, as other dermatology practices stopped accepting MassHealth, forcing the area’s estimated 12,000 MassHealth members to go as far away as Boston for treatment.
McGreal, however, said there were other factors in the Springfield dermatologists’ decision to leave MassHealth that were beyond the insurance company’s control.
“Dermatology in itself has changed, and doctors who practice dermatology are somewhat in a better position than other types of providers in that they can do more of a cash business. Especially in the area of cosmetic surgery,” he said.
McGreal said the location of many MassHealth members also inhibited the program’s ability to provide care for them.
“We have pockets in some areas of the state where, because of their location, it may not be as easy getting health services as others,” he said.
In order to stop this problem from spreading statewide, MassHealth has made several adjustments, including increasing the rates it pays all doctors for patient visits.
It has also taken several medications off of prior approval, a system in which doctors need to file paperwork before prescribing certain medications for MassHealth members. Since the main problem is with dermatologists, MassHealth has taken several acne medications that are commonly prescribed to teenagers off of prior approval.
Another approach MassHealth is using is to try to educate members about the causes of skin problems, such as perfumed detergents that often irritate children’s skin.
“We’re also working with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to go into the area and do what we call a barrier survey,” McGreal said. “[We’re going to] look at the entire area out there and find out why, in fact, there might be a barrier to dermatology services.”
Although McGreal admitted Massachusetts is also experiencing a shortage of dentists, he doesn’t feel the current problem will spread any further.
“Overall I think access for our MassHealth members is very good,” he said.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
