Milken professors develop map to track physicians who accept Medicaid

and a lead researcher on the project, said the tracker’s data highlights areas with shortages of providers who take Medicaid, like Texas, Arizona and New Jersey, and disparities in coverage among states.

body's willing to see you. And so the tracker is an effort to essentially shed light on this problem.”

Two professors in the Milken Institute School of Public Health released an interactive map earlier this month identifying primary care providers in the United States who treat patients with Medicaid.

The Medicaid Primary Care Workforce Tracker displays the ratio of providers who accept Medicaid — a government program that provides health insurance coverage for low-income Americans — to residents in each county and state from 2016 to 2019 and ranks each state based on the percentage of providers who accept patients on Medicaid. Patricia Pittman, the director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity

Pittman said some providers don’t accept Medicaid because payment rates for Medicaid are lower compared to Medicare — federal health insurance for people 65 or over — and private insurance. She said some providers feel the billing and authorization processes for Medicaid are “bureaucratic” and time-consuming and that there is a negative stigma associated with Medicaid patients because they are low income and often considered “sicker.”

“We know that it's not enough to just enroll and qualify for Medicaid,” Pittman said. “That's a huge hurdle in and of itself, but it's even more tragic when you're enrolled and you have the coverage and no-

The report reveals the total number of primary care providers who saw Medicaid patients rose 13 percent from 2016 to 2019, but Pittman said there is “tremendous variation” between states because each state operates its own Medicaid program and has different payment rates and administrative burdens.

In 2019, the percentage of primary care providers who see at least 11 patients per year and accept patients with Medicaid widely varied, with 55.5 percent in Texas and 59.2 percent in New Jersey but 82 percent in Wisconsin and 85 percent in Vermont, according to the report.

In D.C., 60.1 percent of providers who see at least 11 patients per year saw patients with Medicaid in 2019, an increase from 38.1 percent in 2017, according to the report.

Pittman said the research team created the tracker using Medicaid claims data — requests for payment that providers submit to the program — and the National Provider Identifier database, which is a directory of all health care providers. She said the tracker is an effort to provide data in an interactive and useful format for researchers and policymakers so they can address disparities in access to health care for patients enrolled in Medicaid.

The number of OB-GYNs who saw Medicaid patients dropped 2.5 percent during the four-year time period and were the only specialty that dropped between 2016 to 2019, according to the report. Pittman said this decrease is likely because OB-GYNs tend to have lower Medicaid reimbursement rates and that increased restrictions on abortion have decreased the overall OBGYN workforce.

Candice Chen, an associate professor of health policy and manage-

RHA prioritizes outreach to first-years, Greek life houses in push to expand services

The Residence Hall Association is prioritizing engagement with new students to gather feedback on housing through outreach to residents of affinity, fraternity and sorority houses and first-years during orientation.

Vero Famadas, the president of RHA and a junior studying psychology, said they plan to attend freshman orientation events to establish RHA as a resource for students early in the year and build interest for the four available hall council positions in each residence hall — which plan events for individual residence halls — especially in nontraditional residence halls like Casa Cisneros and Greek townhouses. They said the RHA’s two main priorities for the upcoming year are continuing to build community in residence halls and encouraging residents to raise potential concerns about their residence halls with administrators.

“I’m really happy to talk about the different things that we’re working on, whether it’s inclusive housing, whether it’s just accessibility or just kind of making sure that we represent the people living in the halls and that we have a voice,” Famadas said.

Famandas said they have worked this summer to get to know their 14-person executive board — a number standard for the organization — on a personal level and set common priorities for advocacy this year, like accessibility in residence halls for students with disabilities and gender-inclusive housing.

“I’ve been really lucky that my e-board has been quick on their feet, so enthusiastic,” Famadas said. “It’s honestly refreshing because it makes me want to keep working on it.”

Famadas said the RHA e-board spoke and handed out T-shirts at the Buff and Blue Kickoff last week and will give away snow cones, sunglasses and beach balls at a pool party on the Mount Vernon Campus Wednesday.

“It’s scary coming in freshman year, and I just want to make sure that we build a community early on," Famadas said.

Famadas said applications for hall council positions are due Sept. 10, and the RHA will hold information sessions — starting Sept. 5 — and candidate meetings on both the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses. They said hall councils on the Vern tend to be more enthusiastic in their roles because the Vern offers a more traditional residence hall experience.

“Actually, the Vern has been the most energetic, enthusiastic group of RHA ever since I’ve been a freshman,” they said. “They have an energy.”

Famadas said most members of RHA’s e-board previously served on hall councils but are new to organizationwide leadership. During their two meetings this summer, Famadas and the rest of the RHA e-board listed concerns over dining, accommodations for students with allergies, gender-inclusive housing and housing accessible to students with disabilities as potential areas of advocacy for the upcoming year.

Famadas said they plan to seek specific feedback from hall councils before advocating on their behalf and addressing issues. They said they plan to seek feedback on the move-in process as a first step for advocacy after students have moved into residence halls.

The RHA, in conjunction with the Student Association, published a report detailing security, accessibility and maintenance issues in residence halls in April.

Famadas said their eboard will meet weekly during the upcoming year, which is typical of past years.

Famadas said the RHA plans to establish hall councils in nontraditional residence halls in RHA programming during the upcoming year, like the Greek townhouses, Strong Hall — which houses Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi sororities — and Casa Cisneros, which houses students focused on service and leadership in the Latino community. They said RHA’s bylaws already dictate that each participating sorority of Strong Hall would provide a representative for the hall council and that the RHA hopes to carry out the existing policy.

They said they hope to create a stronger sense of community in these nontraditional halls by providing RHA supplies, like the popcorn machine, cotton candy machine, chocolate fountain and snow cone machine.

“They definitely would use a lot of the supplies and just a lot of the resources that we can offer,” Famadas said. “And I would love to just give RHA to as many halls as possible.”

Famadas said they met with the executive director of GW Dining, Douglas Frazier, at the beginning of the summer to address a student’s allegation of other students using batter containing gluten in the glutenfree waffle makers at dining halls. They said Frazier “immediately” agreed to move the waffle makers behind a counter so dining employees can operate the machines instead of students.

“It shows that they’re in touch with our student feedback, and I’m really happy about that,” Famadas said.