PLEASE Respond to this Q&A
Many individuals with developmental disabilities receive health insurance through either Medicaid, Medicare, or Managed Care. Like the general population, individuals who are on these types of health insurance plans have a much harder time accessing quality health care. But for the developmentally disabled population, it is even harder because many health care providers are unwilling to treat these patients as it is. With these types of health insurance, people with disabilities often seek care from specialty clinics supported financially through state authorities, grant programs, university-based hospitals, community health centers, or through residential services (Kastner & Walsh, 2006). Additionally, the majority of these health care centers make fee-for-service arrangements in both Medicaid and Medicare programs (Kastner & Walsh, 2006). “These fee-for-service arrangements, especially Medicaid, are often inadequate because many practitioners do not participate due to low reimbursement rates” (Kastner & Walsh, 2006, p. 43). So not only do patients with developmental disabilities have a harder time finding care because there is a lack of physicians willing to treat them, but they also have a harder time because of the type of health insurance that they have. Since this population is known to have many other comorbid conditions associated with their disability, you would think that they would have financial support to access quality health care, but that is sadly not the case. We must do better as professionals in the health care field to change this.
