I have finally decided to take Medicaid, but now that I will, I probably won’t see very many people this year. When money gets tight with Medicaid, Vision and Dental always seem the first to go. Of course, some people claim money isn’t tight in my state since we had a budget surplus (but they’re not going to give it back to the tax payers).
Anyway, the reason I decided to participate is because I had a wise colleague tell me that when starting up cold, some days Medicaid patients might be the only patients you see that day. My consulting firm also told me to accept as many insurances as possible at the start, then when business picks up a lot, we can decide which low paying plans to drop.
My wife says that it’s good PR to take Medicaid. She’s right. I’m going to take Medicaid patients, and I’m not going to complain about it. I will, of course, write letters to the government to number one, stop taking so much money away from me, and number two, give a poor doctor a break and reimburse better.
I noticed that you had a job opening advertised in the Logan Newspaper. I have been reading your articles because I was interested in the information you have provided. I worked for an Optometrist in Florida for almost 10 years. I understand your concerns about Medicaid. I do not know about Utah, but in Florida, we were provided with a kit to dsipense frames from, we were provided with a Medicaid Lab, and the patient only paid for any upgrades not provided by Medicaid. We often gave the patient their spectacle rx, mainly because they did not like the frames that were available to them from Medicaid. They had the option to purchase frames/lenses from the office of their choice. Some would and some would not. Also as a note, I do know the State of Utah recently revamped their guidelines on Medicaid for Vision and Glasses. Some of these benefits are not being made available to some Medicaid Plans. Hope this information is helpful in some way. Respectfully, Diane
Utah does not provide medicaid approved frames nor do they have a certain lab that you must use. It is up to the optical to somehow turn a profit by accepting the reduced reimbursement while still using whatever suppliers they have at their disposal.
So will you be applying for the job? If so, please send me your resume via e-mail!