About 55% of behavioral health professionals serving Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries accepted new appointments in 2023, according to a federal survey report. However, 24% reported wait times of more than 30 days for a new appointment. About 5% had wait times of 90 days or longer for a new appointment. The percentage of health care providers with long wait times to accept new consumers enrolled in traditional Medicare, a Medicare Advantage plan, or in a Medicaid managed care plan varied by payer type.
Across payer types, the percentage of new appointments with wait times of more than 30 days ranged from 32% for child Medicaid MCO network professionals to 36% for Medicare Advantage network professionals, according to the report. Addressing the workforce shortage of behavioral health professionals accepting Medicare and Medicaid could improve beneficiary access to behavioral health care and reduce wait times for new appointments, the report stated.
The survey was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services. The OIG selected a random sample of active professionals in 20 counties who billed for at least two Medicare and Medicaid services in 2021. The survey was conducted by telephone. The survey included 150 professionals in each of eight groups: urban traditional Medicare, rural traditional Medicare, urban Medicare Advantage, rural Medicare Advantage, urban Medicaid MCO, rural Medicaid MCO, child Medicaid MCO, and adult Medicaid MCO. In total, the OIG completed 707 telephone surveys.
The findings were reported in Availability of Surveyed Behavioral Health Providers to Treat New Patients Enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid (OEI-09-21-00410). The included behavioral health professionals who actively served Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in 2023. The goal was to assess whether a beneficiary could make a new appointment in August or September 2023 for treatment. This report is the second in a series.
For more information, contact: Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 330 Independence Avenue Southwest, Washington, District of Columbia 20201; Email: Public.Affairs@oig.hhs.gov; Website: https://oig.hhs.gov/
August 2025 00US25EUA0023