A report by the Brown University Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research (CAHPR) highlights that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which enroll a high proportion of Black and Hispanic individuals, are failing to provide adequate access to racially or ethnically similar physicians.
Analyzing 2019 data, the report found significant disparities in physician inclusion rates, finding that on average, 51.1 percent of white physicians were included in MA networks, compared to just 43.2 percent of Black physicians and 44 percent of Hispanic physicians. Furthermore, the report found that around 20 percent of Black and Hispanic MA beneficiaries had no Black or Hispanic physicians in their networks. These disparities raise concerns about unequal access to preventive care and worsened health outcomes for these communities. The researchers recommend that MA plans increase the diversity of their physician networks to better reflect local populations. They also advocate for Medicare to evaluate network adequacy by tracking physician diversity and language concordance, emphasizing the need for more Spanish-speaking doctors to improve culturally competent care. View the report here.
Last Updated on January 30, 2025 by Aimed Alliance
