Many of the 16 million extra US citizens who will become eligible for health insurance under the Medicaid programme from January 2014 are expected to have trouble finding a doctor.

Many US doctors are reluctant to take patients with Medicaid insurance because of the scheme’s low proportion of reimbursement paid to doctors, and a study published in the August issue of Health Affairs has found that 31% of doctors would not be prepared to accept any new patients under Medicaid.1

Medicaid currently covers about 60 million people, including many poor people, disabled people, pregnant women, and people in long term care. President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, passed in March 2010, expanded eligibility to at least 16 million more people, predominantly those on low incomes but above the …