Medicaid patients spend more time waiting for a doctor than those who are privately insured, according to a report from Health Affairs.
The study collected data from 21.4 million patient visits from 2,581 practices during calendar year 2013 and determined wait times for those covered by private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, or those who pay on their own.
The study found that Medicaid patients were 20 percent more likely to wait longer than 20 minutes to see their provider than those who were privately insured.
While 18.1 percent of those covered by Medicaid waited longer than 20 minutes, only 16.3 percent of those with private health insurance waited the same amount of time. Those with Medicaid coverage waited a median wait time of 4.6 minutes for their provider compared with those with private insurance waiting a median time of 4.1 minutes.
In addition, when comparing patients across the board, those with Medicaid had the most visits with longer wait times. They also were the least likely to have negative wait times, which means they were less likely to arrive and begin their appointment by the scheduled time.
"Physician self-reports and audit studies have found that Medicaid patients have to wait longer to schedule outpatient appointments and that they were more likely than privately insured patients to face barriers to care," the report states.
The authors of the study note that these findings support previous research showing disparities of health care coverage given to those with Medicaid coverage.
"This supports previous research suggesting that practices and physicians that disproportionately serve Medicaid patients differ in other aspects of the care environment," the study notes. "Our analysis complements other studies that, from examining health outcomes from specific treatments or rates of receipt of appropriate care, found lower quality of care received by Medicaid patients," the study said.
"Concerns about whether Medicaid patients face barriers to accessing high-quality care are widespread, particularly in light of historically low reimbursement rates for Medicaid patients," the report said.