Saving rural psychiatry services will require higher Medicaid payments By Nadir Al-SaidiMay 29, 2024

https://www.statnews.com/2024/05/29/rural-psychiatrists-higher-medicaid-payments/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9XWXaYmy-5dexDscvmxryYnC9lEHAF3h8gCBipGINOFsqYaCHYF9wBfJbQZ4m3VDksI6lJqns1h7jCF4BuhYnyHL0s8A&_hsmi=309132552&utm_content=309132552&utm_source=hs_email This is an easy one, according to First Opinion contributor Nadir Al-Saidi: higher Medicaid payments. Al-Saidi’s father runs the only private psychiatric practice in their rural Michigan town, and is the sole psychiatrist contracted at the local hospital. “If there were ever to be an empty bed in the stress unit my psychiatrist dad manages, I’m certain he would admit himself,” he writes. Having a highly Medicaid-dependent patient panel makes it almost impossible for a psychiatrist to financially support a practice, he argues. Instead, most choose to practice in urban settings where more people are covered by private insurance enrollment, making the business more lucrative.