HEALTH-INSURANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE ACCESS TO PRIMARY-CARE - A NATIONAL STUDY OF PHYSICIANS ACCEPTANCE OF PUBLICLY INSURED PATIENTS

The roles of reimbursement and other predictors that affect physicians ' willingness to accept publicly insured continuing care patients were examined in a national survey. The response rate was 47%. Eighty-eigh t percent of the respondents were accepting new patients, Forty-two pe rcent of these physicians were willing to accept new continuing care p atients insured by Medicaid, 70% reported accepting those paying by Me dicare assignment, and 85% said they accept patients covered by Medica re plus balance-billing payments, Low reimbursement was the strongest predictor for lack of acceptance, The results suggest that systems of multitiered reimbursement are associated with diminished access for pa tients insured in the lower tiers.