Rationing Care for Children in Medicaid and CHIP

Physicians experience much greater difficulty referring children in Medicaid and CHIP to specialty care, compared to privately insured children. On the basis of the physician survey, more than three times as many participating physicians—84 percent—experience difficulty referring Medicaid and CHIP children to specialty care as experience difficulty referring privately insured children—26 percent. For all children, physicians most frequently cited difficulty with specialty referrals for mental health, dermatology, and neurology.

Full GAO report here.