Primary Care Physicians Accepting Medicare: A Snapshot
| Appendix Table 1: Share of Non-Pediatric Primary Care Physicians Accepting New and Current Medicare patients, by Provider and Practice Characteristics, 2015 | |||||
| Provider/practice characteristic | Overall | Accepts Medicare including NEW Medicare patients | Accepts Medicare, but not taking new Medicare patients | Does NOT accept Medicare patients | Not applicable |
| Overall, unweighted N | 1,257 | 72% | 21% | 2% | 3% |
| PHYSICIAN DEMOGRAPHICS | |||||
| Provider Sex | |||||
| Male (R) | 66% | 73% | 21% | 2% | 2% |
| Female | 34% | 70% | 23% | 3% | 3% |
| Provider Age | |||||
| Under 55 (R) | 55% | 76% | 19% | 2% | 2% |
| 55 and older | 44% | 67%* | 24% | 3% | 3% |
| Provider Race/ethnicity | |||||
| White (R) | 65% | 66% | 26% | 3% | 2% |
| Asian | 18% | 83%* | 15%* | 0%* | 2% |
| Black/ Hispanic/ other | 15% | 86%* | 9%* | 3% | 2% |
| Practice type | |||||
| Independent office-based (R) | 71% | 72% | 24% | 2% | 1% |
| Hospital-owned office-based | 17% | 76% | 20% | 0%* | 2% |
| Walk-in retail clinic/other | 6% | 44%* | 10%* | 10% | 28% |
| Community clinic/health center | 6% | 87%* | 9%* | 1% | 3% |
| Area type | |||||
| City (R) | 39% | 72% | 21% | 2% | 4% |
| Suburb | 31% | 72% | 24% | 2% | 1%* |
| Small town | 21% | 69% | 22% | 3% | 4% |
| Rural | 9% | 81%* | 15% | 3% | 1% |
| Physician Specialty | |||||
| Family Practice (R) | 50% | 73% | 22% | 2% | 1% |
| Internal Medicine | 46% | 73% | 21% | 2% | 2% |
| Other | 4% | — | — | — | — |
| Patient Caseload Characteristics | |||||
| Percent with Medicare | |||||
| 0-24% | 25% | 66% | 22% | 6%* | 5%* |
| 25% to 49% | 41% | 75% | 20% | 1% | 1% |
| 50% or more (R) | 32% | 74% | 23% | 1% | 1% |
| Percent African American | |||||
| 0-24% (R) | 81% | 70% | 22% | 3% | 3% |
| 25% or more | 17% | 79%* | 17% | 1% | 2% |
| Percent Hispanic | |||||
| 0-24% (R) | 82% | 70% | 23% | 3% | 2% |
| 25% or more | 15% | 78%* | 15% | 2% | 5% |
| Income | |||||
| Mostly low-income | 18% | 78% | 15%* | 1% | 5%* |
| Mostly medium-income (R) | 32% | 70% | 24% | 2% | 1% |
| Mixed income | 46% | 71% | 22%* | 3% | 3%* |
| Mostly high-income | 2% | — | — | — | — |
| NOTE: Statistically significant differences at the 95% confidence level are indicated by (*) from the applicable reference group, indicated by (R). Black/Hispanic/other includes primary care physicians who self-identify as Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, or of another race or multiple races. (–) indicates sample size too small to analyze. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding and non-responses not shown. SOURCE: The Kaiser Family Foundation/ Commonwealth Fund 2015 National Survey of Primary Care Providers |
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