The Medicaid Dilemma and Its Profound Effect on the Economic and Workforce Issues in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ultimately on Access to Pediatric Eye Care

PURPOSE: To identify new patient, follow-up, and surgery appointment wait times for children seeking care at academic eye centers/children's hospitals (AEC/CHs) in the setting of very low Medicaid reimbursements and workforce issues in pediatric ophthalmology. METHODS: Each state in the United States with AEC/CHs was contacted by phone or email. Using a standardized script, the authors inquired about approximate wait times for non-emergency new patient, follow-up, and surgery appointment times, as well as percentage of patients insured by Medicaid seen at the AEC/CH. Medicaid reimbursements for new patient visits, follow-up visits, sensorimotor examinations, and one-muscle strabismus surgery were examined for each state. The lowest Medicaid reimbursements for new patient visit, follow-up visit, sensorimotor examination, and one-muscle strabismus surgery occurred in Illinois, California, Ohio, and Michigan, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: .