Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.
SUN CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- A hefty increase in state payments to doctors who treat children in the Medicaid program was to go into effect today.
Charles Duarte, administrator of the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, said there is a concern about the limited number of physicians willing to treat those children under 21 who are covered by the Medicaid program.
The change in the rate will mean a 35 percent increase in the payments for visits to a doctor's office. Duarte said this would cost about $2.5 million or $2.75 million more a year in payment to these physicians. The federal share of that would be $1.5 million.
"This is really an effort to retain services and access" for children, Duarte said. There are a "relatively few" physicians who now treat these patients, he said.
Nevada is now paying at 85 percent of the 2002 federal rate for these physicians. That will rise to 120 percent of the rate.
Duarte said there will be workshops this summer to review the rates of all physicians that provide federally subsidized health care. He said the information gathered from those workshops would be used in building the 2005-2007 budget to be presented to the Legislature "but there are no commitments" that rates will be increased any further.
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