The average Medicaid acceptance rate in 15 different metropolitan markets surveyed decreased roughly 10 percent from 2009 to 2013, according to Merritt Hawkins' 2014 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times and Medicaid and Medicare Acceptance Rates.
The survey averaged the acceptance rates of five different specialties — cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic surgery and family practice — and found the total cumulative average Medicaid acceptance rate decreased from 55.4 percent to 45.7 percent in the five-year span.
The 15 metropolitan markets surveyed are listed below, from highest Medicaid acceptance rate to lowest:
- Boston — 73 percent Medicaid acceptance rate in 2013
- Portland, Ore. — 63.5 percent
- Detroit — 63.4 percent
- Houston — 55.8 percent
- Miami — 53.8 percent
- Seattle — 48 percent
- Philadelphia — 47.3 percent
- Washington, D.C. — 43.1 percent
- New York City — 39.8 percent
- San Diego — 39.4 percent
- Atlanta — 37 percent
- Los Angeles — 36.4 percent
- Denver — 34.4 percent
- Minneapolis — 23.6 percent
- Dallas — 23 percent
The total cumulative average acceptance rate for Medicare in the same 15 cities was a good deal higher (76 percent) than Medicaid acceptance rates.