Medicaid Covid Injection = Bonus for California Doctors

Medicaid recipients opting for the Covid-19 injection helped line the pockets of doctors in California and Kentucky. The federal government offered incentives and bonuses to doctor’s successfully vaccinating Medicaid dependent patients. Low-income communities were strategically targeted due to vaccine hesitancy, and the patients were often given gift cards and other non-monetary gifts, in exchange for vaccination.

In California, the incentive payment structure was complex, but worth the effort. Of the $350 million from DHCS, $250 million was earmarked for California doctor incentives, and the other $100 million for Medi-Cal recipients. The greater percentage increase of vaccinated patients, the greater the doctor bonus. Additionally, doctors were incentivized to enter electronic health record immunizations in CAIR, which is the California Immunization Registry.

Funding was also used to promote Covid-19 vaccination in community-based organizations with broad reach, such as advocacy groups, food banks, faith-based organizations and grassroot leaders. A common vaccine message was shared widely to drown out the concerns, but surprisingly had minimal impact with only a small overall increase of vaccination numbers within the Medi-Cal community.

Read more here in The Defender article by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.