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.
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