Analytics Magazine Analytics Magazine, September/October 2014 | Page 28

healt h care a na ly t i c s new enrollees were uninsured or underinsured earlier, causing high emergency room and hospitalization costs. According to projections, more than 15 million eligible people for Medicaid in participating states have joined the expansion program. While the expansion brought in new federal dollars to the respective state coffers in support of the safety net expansion, the key issue is that the growth in demand is not aptly matched by timely capacity expansion. An imminent scarcity of primary care providers in many states poses problems for the Analytics_AD_INFORMS.ai 1 8/12/2014 9:15:05 AM proposed expansion. Even when physicians are available, competition from for-profit organizations makes them unaffordable to the not-for-profit health centers and hospitals. Additionally, Medicaid reimbursement rates are much lower than commercial plans, so specialists are not always willing to accept Medicaid patients. This creates issues for not-for-profit health plans in terms of maintaining a comprehensive provider network to address gaps in the patient care. ACA has some provisions to address the reimbursement issue, but is that enough? C M Y THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE DEGREE CM MY CY Steve B. Class of ‘15 CMY K MASTERS OF SCIENCE ANALYTICS AT HOUSTON CITYCENTRE OR VIA ONLINE The Texas A&M program gives me the curriculum I’m looking for, the flexibility to participate remotely and a top-notch staff of seasoned professors with loads of practical experience beyond the university. FOR MORE INFORMATION | analytics.tamu.edu EXCERPT FROM CLASS OF 2015 FIRST SEMESTER EVALUATIONS 28 | a n a ly t i c s - m a g a z i n e . o r g w w w. i n f o r m s . o r g