Comments on: Medicaid cancer screening http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/medicaid-cancer-screening.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:18:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/10/medicaid-cancer-screening.html#comment-87638 Anonymous Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:14:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2008/10/medicaid-cancer-screening.html#comment-87638 I found out the hard way that New York Medicaid does not cover pap smears unless you are a designated gyn provider by the state, which not surprising excludes an internist or family physician from providing the service. How that layer of bureaucracy helps poor women get needed care is beyond me.<br/><br/>As for colonoscopies, they may be covered, but only if you can find a gastroenterologist willing to accept medicaid's paltry reimbursement. <br/><br/>So, of the big three (colon ca, breast ca and cervical cancer), only breast cancer is easy to screen for, as far as New York goes. It is easy to do a breast exam and order a mammogram; getting the patient to go for it, unfortunately, is not so simple. I found out the hard way that New York Medicaid does not cover pap smears unless you are a designated gyn provider by the state, which not surprising excludes an internist or family physician from providing the service. How that layer of bureaucracy helps poor women get needed care is beyond me.

As for colonoscopies, they may be covered, but only if you can find a gastroenterologist willing to accept medicaid’s paltry reimbursement.

So, of the big three (colon ca, breast ca and cervical cancer), only breast cancer is easy to screen for, as far as New York goes. It is easy to do a breast exam and order a mammogram; getting the patient to go for it, unfortunately, is not so simple.

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