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Physicians Frustrated With Florida's Medicaid System, Report Finds

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Pediatricians are frustrated with the way the system treats children on Medicaid.

According to a report by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Florida's system for delivering Medicaid to children is among the worst in the nation. 

 
The institute surveyed physicians who said children are reassigned from one insurance carrier to another without being notified, face barriers getting medication and have a hard time finding specialists who accept Medicaid.
 
Maggie Clark is a reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune who wrote a series explaining how the state's system operates. She says pediatricians are frustrated with the way the system treats children on Medicaid.
 
"They are seeing a lot of children continuing to be switched back and forth from different insurance companies without their parents' consent," Clark said.  "They are seeing denials for services, medications being changed a lot." 
 
The Herald-Tribune is hosting a panel discussion with the study's author and other experts at 5:30 p.m.Tuesday at the Hearald-Tribune's headquarters in Sarasota. Seating is limited. To reserve a space call 941-361-4065. 
 

Julio Ochoa is editor of Health News Florida.