Medicaid Restores Payments to Doctors

   Doctors who take Medicaid patients in Alabama got some good news yesterday when Governor Robert Bentley announced that enhanced payments would be returning. The Medicaid Agency payments to doctors had been reduced because of an 85 million dollar shortfall in the agency’s budget for the new fiscal year. Thanks to a special session in which legislators passed a bill to provide additional funding to Medicaid, the primary care bump has been restored. The money comes from a bond issue supported by oil spill settlement funds. Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar said the payments will help doctors who take Medicaid patients to cover costs and help protect access to care for Medicaid recipients. She says the agency still faces long-term funding issues.